top of page

My BOOKS

Anchor 1
The Cucumber King of Kedainiai

"Mayo captures late-Soviet and immediate post-Soviet gloom and mutual incomprehension perfectly in his collection."     -Julija Šukys, Journal of Baltic Studies

 

"Mayo is able to present Lithuania in a way that contributes to our understanding of the specifics of the Lithuanian experience, without ignoring what is human in us all. Lithuania (and America) are lucky to have him."             -Elizabeth Novickas, Lituanus

Anchor 2
Centaur of the North

“A powerful first collection.”
                             -New York Times Book Review

“The language of these stories is superb: incantatory and dense with textures, images, and smells... we are there in the perfumed heady stew of other people's families and we can use what we learn of their puzzling myths and unknowable histories to look at our own."
                            -Harvard Book Review

Anchor 3
In Lithuanian Wood

"Mayo has an eye for the small details, the ironies of custom and tradition... Such richly diverse stories suggest a powerful merging of history and folklore with everyday life...In Lithuanian Wood contains many striking, poetic moments."  -The Los Angeles Times

 

"[Mayo] takes on topics that are often more difficult for us to approach. He provides sanctuary for characters who hold up the bones of murdered Jews, who don't find salvation in the West, who refuse to divide the world cleanly between Soviet and liberated Lithuania. Ready or not, Mayo has, as Crèvecoeur did for America, opened up our culture to wider interpretation."
                                            -Lituanus

B. Horror and Other Stories

"Beguiling ... Mayo, in his third book, demonstrates that 'horror' can mean something as simple as fear and apprehension, and in patient, sharp prose, he pushes his characters into small psychic duels, where people come close to understanding each other but can't--or won't--get there ..."             -New York Times Book Review

 

"[These] shine with the professional polish of subtly wrought revelation."
                                -Publishers Weekly

Anchor 4
When the Moon Was Ours for the Taking

"Satisfying and emotionally evocative. This collection of four stories begins with a bang but morphs quietly, beautifully into a contemplation of one father/son relationship. Demonstrates a beautiful handle on the progression of a single character through time and shifting points of view, takes risks, and raises poignant questions of family and memory, the forces that shape us."                                             -Kate Barrett 

Anchor 5
Vilko valanda

"Gal dar pamenate dėl tokio J.Franzeno romano 'Corrections' ('Pataisos') kilusį skandalą? Lietuva - tai kraštas, kurio gyventojai minta arkliena, neturi elektros ir pardavinėja savo moteris? Tai va, prieš mane - kitoks amerikiečių autoriaus romanas apie kitokią Lietuvą, ir su meile. Gražią, poetišką ir paslaptingą. Beveik Mickevičiaus motyvai Marqueso stiliumi, kaip pasakytų koks cinikas. Knyga neturi nuoseklaus, užbaigto siužeto, veikiau tai - klajonių užrašų fragmentai, pasodrinti sakmėmis, magiškuoju ir šiaip realizmu, postsovietinėmis realijomis (neišsigąskit, bendros pozityvios tendencijos jos nesugadina). Autorius labai poetiškas, net kai ima pasakoti anekdotus, tačiau paprastai nebanalus. Humoro jausmą irgi turi."

                                                        -Literatūra ir menas

Anchor 6
bottom of page