The New York Times – Michiko Kakutani
Michael Cunningham's resonant new novel…is arguably [his] most original and emotionally piercing book to date. It's a novel that does not rely heavily on literary allusions and echoes for its power—a story that showcases the author's strengths as a writer and few of his liabilities, while creating a potent portrait of two brothers and their urgent midlife yearning to find some sense of purpose and belonging…[Cunningham] artfully allows the reader direct access to [his characters'] hearts and minds by using his gift for empathy and his own brand of stream of consciousness…He gracefully delineates Tyler and Barrett's family history, the often different ways the brothers have processed their common past, and the shared and withheld secrets that have defined their fraternal bond over the years.