“I recently reread all eighty-five of Kincaid's 'Talk' stories, and I was surprised by what I found in them--surprised, delighted, and, most of all, embarrassed for my younger self... It's taken me a few years to appreciate that there are times when it's enough for writing, like sleep and sex, to exist just for the pleasure it gives.” —Craig Seligman, The Threepenny Review

“From the collection's first piece ... the reader is snared by the simplicity, directness and unvarnished truthfulness of formidable talent already realized.” —Margaret Fichtner, Miami Herald

“Fresh, risky, improvisational and hard-to-categorize writing , the fruit of a remarkable understanding between a seasoned editor and a nervy new writer, is rare and precious, and best appreciated here, where each provocative essay plays against the others, no longer anonymous.” —Donna Seaman, Chicago Tribune