"Dorene O'Brien's stories operate on a different plane and dimension of realism--flesh and blood, yet dipped in a neon wash perhaps. At once a scientist of sensory details and a heartfelt observer of the intricacies of the human psyche, O'Brien's prose possesses a particular cinema that will not just stay in your mind but your gut as well." -Porochista Khakpour, author of Sons and Other Flammable Objects, The Last Illusion and Sick
"Dorene O'Brien's stories operate on a different plane and dimension of realism--flesh and blood, yet dipped in a neon wash perhaps. At once a scientist of sensory details and a heartfelt observer of the intricacies of the human psyche, O'Brien's prose possesses a particular cinema that will not just stay in your mind but your gut as well."
-Porochista Khakpour, author of
Sons and Other Flammable Objects,
The Last Illusion and
Sick
"Like all superb constructions, Dorene O'Brien's magical, new collection of short fiction,
What It Might Feel Like to Hope, quickly transports readers beyond the bones of its structure-the deftly-crafted plots, striking characterizations and clever, lyrical prose-to places of genuine wonder."
-Laura Bernstein-Machlay, author of
Travelers
"What It Might Feel like to Hope is not a series of stories, but rather an intricately woven pattern that makes the reader shudder with recognition of lives crossing and merging with one another."
-Anca Vlasopolos, author of
No Return Address: A Memoir of Displacement, The New Bedford Samurai,
Cartographies of Scale (and Wing)
"Heartbreaking, funny, thoughtful and keenly attuned to the frailties of humans and their often ineffectual attempts to connect with each other."
-Michael Zadoorian, author of
The Leisure Seeker and
Beautiful Music
