Seventeen sensual tales, linked by the thematic threads of intimacy, desire and love, depict worried mothers, absent fathers, inter-class sexual affairs and men afraid of their desires. Leland?s supple prose marks him as a short story virtuoso.
~Colm Toibin
As in real life, gay mingles with straight in Leland's first collection (after five novels), 17 shimmering sensual short stories linked by the thematic threads of intimacy and love…Leland's supple, succinct prose marks him as a short story virtuoso."
~Richard Labonte
In his satisfying first story collection (after Letting Loose), Leland deals with the wonders of in- timacy, portraying a broad range of relationships, from the engaged couple of 'Casing the " Promised Land,' whose interactions are full of missed connections and lovely synchronicity, to the frank sex talks of the gay couple at the center of 'Fellatio,' without sacrificing unity of theme and approach. In the first-person stories the reader becomes the narrator's confidante, whereas third-person turns the same reader into a voyeur.
~Publishers Weekly
There is a surprising edginess in Leland's stories that has nothing to do with their edgy subject matter, but with timing, the multitude of one-line paragraphs in which so much happens so swiftly. The many asides give the stories their strange power, as if they are being overheard rather than read."
~Laura Kasischke, Author of Eden Springs (Wayne State University Press, 2010)
In Love/Imperfect, Leland proves he's a virtuoso at rendering the sensual rhythms possible in beautiful language. His new collection reads like a finely cut jewel each facet of which casts light on a different love relationship, sexual experience, or desire, the whole thematically unified even as each fiction draws from a very diverse spectrum of eras, settings, and sensitively written lives. These tales are, indeed, about imperfect loves, shaded by nostalgic longing for lost or unrequited relationships, intense physical passions, and awe at the rarity of true, lasting love. Leland's pitch and range are perfect for each variation on his theme, making Love/Imperfect a wonderfully rich collection-entertaining, brilliant, satisfying in every way."
~Douglas Unger, &Nbsp;Author of Leaving the Land and Looking for War and Other Stories &Nbsp;
Compelling, original, and sweeping in its precise and poetic exploration of love. Leland takes us on a journey that is sometimes humorous and often painful, but we arrive at our destination with a certain and deeper understanding of the complexities of love in all of its manifestations."
~Dorene O\'Brien, Author of Voices of the Lost and Found (Wayne State University Press, 2007)
That forward slash-the pointed grout between Love and Imperfect-is telling punctuation bifurcating the title of this finely honed collection. These stories define definition, edge edgy. The stories bound over boundaries, effortless osmosis, transmitting the erotic fluidity of desire, loss, memory, time. Christopher T. Leland's lyrical fictions cleave. They tear you up/they bind you back together, line-by-line."
~Michael Martone, Author of Michael Martone
