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PRAISE FOR FRANK SCHAEFFER’S PORTOFINO

“Great insight and unselfconscious humor.”     —Publishers Weekly

“Calvin’s observations reveal the ironies of a family that speaks in biblical phrases but faces all-too-human foibles . . . Under Mr. Schaeffer’s graceful rendering, this is a story of sympathetic characters, a deft feat considering some of their narrow views.”     —Washington Times

“Delightful . . . a wickedly funny story.”     —Chattanooga Times

“Wonderfully lucid and witty . . . Portofino walks a beautifully balanced line between the serious and the humorous, poking gentle fun at the foibles of religious zealotry without disparaging the deep dedication behind it. Hilariously funny at times.”     —Anniston Star

“Awry coming-of-age tale . . . splendid laugh-out-loud moments.”     —Kirkus Reviews

“Charming.”     —Boston Sunday Globe

“Richly ironic and satirical. At times it borders on hilarious . . . wickedly charming.”     —Milwaukee Journal

“Schaeffer, by turns, is sentimental, celebratory, evocative and very funny, but we are never far from a sense that harshness and violence are real; we are never entirely sure how things will turn out. . . A rich brew of cross-cultural comedy . . . enlivened by discoveries and misapprehensions, family squabbles and healings and the dizzy sensibility of a boy whose world opens up in all kinds of poignant and hilarious ways . . . Shaeffer makes this utterly unpredictable family—besides the parents, there are Calvin’s two sharply drawn older sisters—both painful and appealing.”     —Los Angeles Times Book Review

PRAISE FOR FRANK SCHAEFFER’S SAVING GRANDMA

“Saving Grandma is the sequel to Portofino, which introduced us to young Calvin, his parents and two older sisters. Although Saving Grandma has been carefully designed as a stand-alone story, you might as well buy Portofino while you’re at it, because once you hear the irresistible voice of Calvin, you’ll want to read both . . . Frank Schaeffer has a strange and singular story to tell, and he tells it with happy assurance. It’s impossible not to love it.”

—Rocky Mountain News

“Raucous.”

—Entertainment Weekly

“A triumph! Not since Huck Finn has American literature been graced with a character as irresistible as Calvin Dort Becker . . . Mr. Schaeffer’s gifts as a novelist are more than merely comic: Saving Grandma has a deeper river flowing through it as well, one that is sensual and loving and full of true grace. This is a wonderful book!”

—Andre Dubus III, Pushcart Prize-winning author of Bluesman

“The same humor and warmth that distinguished Portofino. . . great insight . . . Portofino will soon be made into a movie, and one can hope the same will happen to the present work.”

—Library Journal

“[A] sweet-natured, comic tale.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Funny . . . poignant. . . Shaeffer manages to be both irreverent and sympathetic toward the foibles of this hilarious holier-than-thou family . . . What’s wonderful about this loopy coming-of-age story is Schaeffer’s sensitivity in showing Calvin’s need to break from a family he both despises and loves.”

—St. Paul Pioneer Press

“Clever, humorous, and satisfying.”

—Booklist