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Advance Praise for The Gulf

“A smart, funny, and hugely entertaining tale about the gulf between expectation and reality, integrity and profit, and faith and uncertainty.”

—Jonathan Evison

“A new work by Belle Boggs is a cause for celebration. In The Gulf, she leaps across perspectives with ease, bridging America’s political divide with compassion and comedy, clarity and insight. The Gulf is a hilarious and healing novel for these polarized times. Reading it consumed my nights, and gave me hope.”

—Tania James

“Belle Boggs takes the term ‘high concept’ to a whole new level in her brilliant comic novel, The Gulf. A satirical send-up of the whole business of commercialized Christianity and also for-profit ‘creative writing’ workshops, The Gulf is literally a DIVINE read—it’s also smart, profound, very funny, and finally redemptive.”

—Lee Smith

“Belle Boggs puts her keen eye on the writing workshop as a kind of lab for examining differing parts of America, and the result is a wildly engaging exploration of characters finding their way through connection, and through language.”

—Aimee Bender

“The brilliant humor in Belle Boggs’s The Gulf comes from a kind of clarity that only the best writers possess, an ability to look so closely at the world that you can see the absurdity without getting lost in it. These characters, because Boggs takes such care with them, feel so real, so wholly unique. And then there is the story itself, moment after moment, that took my breath away. It’s an amazing novel. You have to read it.”

—Kevin Wilson

“Wit and humor abound in The Gulf, and so do great wisdom and compassion. With her wonderful short stories and essays, Belle Boggs has established herself as both a stellar writer of fiction and a brilliant voice on important issues within our society; in this fine novel, her many talents come together, delivering a community of memorable characters and a compelling story as suspenseful in its emotional twists and turns as the approaching hurricane.”

—Jill McCorkle

Praise for The Art of Waiting

“Boggs has done something quite lovely and laudable with The Art of Waiting: She’s given a cold, clinical topic some much-needed warmth and soul. The miracle of life, you might even say.”

—The New York Times

“An eye-opening, gorgeously written blend of memoir, reportage, and cultural analysis.”

—The Boston Globe

“Boggs joins the ranks of great American essayists, writing fearlessly about the personal and the political and where they intersect.”

—O, The Oprah Magazine, Top 10 Books of 2016

Praise for Mattaponi Queen

“Boggs has a knack for capturing both the comedy and the absurdity in all levels of human relationships.”

—The Millions

“[An] impressive debut collection…. These linked stories reach toward hope when they aren’t heading for heartbreak.”

—Elle

“Belle Boggs has created funny, but understated, characters and her sharp, clear voice seems suited to stories relatives swap on slightly rickety wooden lawn furniture…. A bewitching debut.”

—Chicago Tribune