"Imbued with an uncannily sharp voice…convincing lucidity and…moving joie de vivre."
~ The San Francisco Chronicle
"Elisa Albert is the real thing-funny, perceptive, quirky and possessed of a unique voice."
~ Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying
"…[A] wonder-inducing blend of sharp humor, religious ambivalence, and caustic wisdom."
~ Time Out NY
"…[A] dark, witty and incisive take…"
~ Variety
"Albert is a spectacularly efficient writer, able to reveal more about her characters in a few well-chosen, beautifully phrased sentences than some authors can manage in an entire novel. The author's command of her craft should impress anyone who appreciates short fiction, and her characters are so singularly human that their power to charm and engage transcends religious affiliation. An exciting debut; sincerely touching, mordantly funny and superbly assured."
~ Kirkus, Starred Review, a "Hot Debut" of 2006
"Elisa Albert's debut story collection is truly worthy of the overused phrase 'razor sharp'. These are not your bubbe's bedtime stories. …THIS NIGHT is as unorthodox as it is satisfying."
~ BUST Magazine
"Only a writer as daring as Elisa Albert would end a sharp-witted, funny and profoundly sad debut collection with a story that yanks off the writerly mask and slashes the safety net. My jaw dropped--and not just because I was laughing."
~ David Gates, author of Jernigan and The Wonders of The Invisible World
"Elisa Albert spins dark comedy into gold. Smart, sexy, funny as all get-out, her stories are also profound and poignant. …[A] story collection to cherish."
~ Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route
"This spirited collection heralds the arrival of an audacious new voice."
~ The Forward
"Overall, this funny, provocative work richly expresses the questions that linger after a bad Hebrew school and good university education. Even if Elisa Albert had not chosen to end her collection with a love letter to Philip Roth, one could read her audacious debut as just that."
~ Lilith Magazine
"Albert shows a biting knowingness about contemporary Jewish life that reflects the very real American unease with an ongoing cultural conflict between assimilation and tradition."
~ Albany Times-Union
"Hilariously vulgar."
~ Publishers Weekly
"Elisa Albert is the wild, late-coming progeny of Philip Roth and Grace Paley, and we are lucky to have her. Her stories take contemporary Jewish life by the scruff of its neck and give it the shaking that it deserves. There is no piety here, only what you want most from a story: hot prose and human comedy."
~ Jonathan Wilson, author of An Ambulance is on The Way
"How is this book different? It manages to be sharp, unflinching, tender, funny, smart, and vastly entertaining all at once."
~ Tova Mirvis, author of The Visible World
"Elisa Albert is a funny and gutsy writer with a knack for locating the absurd poignancy in familiar situations. This is an accomplished, moving and often risky debut."
~ Sam Lipsyte, author of The Ask
"Elisa Albert provides ample evidence of just how this smart, funny, outrageous young Jewish writer is different -- she's wildly entertaining, incisive as an ice pick, deeply engaged, and curiously, memorably moving. Philip Roth will surely be amused and deliciously appalled, as will you, Gentle Reader, at her inheritance and renewal of the culture and the dream."
~ Jayne Anne Phillips, author of Lark & Termite