Reviews
“Steeped in the early history of Texas’s statehood and laced with eerie portents of supernatural horror, the outstanding latest from Wexler (The Painting and the City) impresses with its originality and inventiveness…Wexler keeps his twisty plot refreshingly unpredictable and endows his characters—even the non-talking skullheads—with vividly realized personalities that enliven his surreal, atmospheric tale.” —Starred Review, Publisher’s Weekly, August 2022 (Full review here.)
“In this effective, creeping, weird-western novel, time slips, hands fold, and something ancient brews. Wexler refuses to give the reader all of the answers, instead leaving them with a slight, satisfying shiver and visions of stormy seas.” —Leah von Essen, Booklist Online, July 15, 2022 (Full review here.)
“A weird but oddly convincing creature feature.” —Kirkus, August 2022 (Full review here.)
“…one of the mostly deeply weird novels I’ve read in some time, at times hallucinatory and dreamlike, at other times gritty and naturalistic…As bizarre as Wexler’s landscapes may be, they’re populated by characters of genuine resonance, from Shannon himself to that mysterious skull-faced saloon lady and even the lead poker player Ring Hand, who emerges as a tragic figure despite his inability to speak in more than barks and growls. But like those hellish landscapes and that weird saloon, I expect these folks, trapped in their own dark realities, will haunt me for some time to come. —Gary K. Wolfe, Locus, August 2022 (Full review here.)
“…It’s hard not to be taken by Wexler’s anarchic imagination. I loved the skull-heads and their distinct personalities (despite the inability to speak). I was awed by the more cinematic moments, such as an impossible walk across the bottom of the ocean. And I cheered at the inspired decision to have Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Zlateh the Goat play a guest starring role. It’s the authenticity that Wexler brings to the narrative that really stood out for me. His portrayal of late-19th-century Texas, the sights, the sounds and especially the food, has an earthy, tangible quality…All of this, the meshing together of worlds real and unreal, makes The Silverberg Business an emotionally and intellectually satisfying novel.” —Ian Mond, Locus, September 2022 (Full review here.)
“Even though a hefty portion of the novel unfolds in relatively realistic places and times, there’s no denying that this is likely the most delightfully weird novel you’re likely to have laid hands on in recent memory. Better still, it does not wear its weird on its sleeve. The Silverberg Business just does what the world it creates requires.” —Rick Kleffel, Narrative Species, posted September 16, 2022 (Full review here.)
“By subverting expectations in both genre and character, Wexler’s writing continually asked me to look closely, beyond initial expectations and surface observations….This genre-defying novel works at many levels to consider what it means to live as an outsider in a landscape that holds a dark mirror to our contemporary era. And it’s not only deeply-layered: it’s a page-turner, a wild ride, and an immensely enjoyable read.” —Melissa Benton Barker, Ancillary Review of Books (Full review here.)
Endless Bookshelf book of the year, “Wexler’s achievement is to have created a formally innovative fiction that moves seamlessly, and beautifully, from dream to waking to sensory hallucination and then back to the mug of coffee the waitress has set before Shannon in the dining room at the Delmonico Hotel.” —Henry Wessells, The Endless Bookshelf (Full review here.)
“In Wexler’s work, the weird is a thing that comes on subtly, slipping from simple eccentricities and a few vague elements of the supernatural into a full-on surreal nightmare where even the most benevolent elements are things that will haunt your dreams for days to come. With its methodical pace, horrifying visuals, and gradual acceptance of the weirder elements, The Silverberg Business shows Wexler’s mastery of the weird and crafts an unusual but striking novel about land and home blending history with his own unnerving imagination.” —Sam Reader, Tor Nightfire blog (Full review here.)
Graham Sleight’s top ten favorites of 2022, from his Locus magazine article. “a striking surprise: a bizarre fantasy of the 19th-century American West that stayed with me like a dream.” (Full write-up here.)
Interviews
Interview conducted by Tobias Carroll on Vol. 1 Brooklyn.
Book Nook interview, WYSO, Yellow Springs, OH; aired 12/25/22 and is now available as podcast/stream.
Podcast interview on the Plutopia Network.
Podcast interview conducted by Rick Kleffel, to go along with his review.
Laconic Writer 