In My Father's House

“It is the force of Mr. Gaines’s character and intelligence, operating through [his] deceptively quiet style, that makes his fiction compelling. . . . The dialogue is spare, but unerring, and humor will keep slipping in subtly despite the tragedies behind these lives.” —Larry McMurty, The New York Times Book Review

“He write’s eloquently of the frustrated love between fathers and sons. . . . His best writing is marked by what Ralph Ellison, describing the blues, call ‘near-tragic, near-comic lyricism.’” —Margo Jefferson, Newsweek

“The dialogue is mesmerizing. . . . The characterizations come right off the page. . . . No one writes about mainstream, ordinary black life as well as he does.” —Ishmael Reed

“It would make a gripping play with its tight plot and strong scenes of confrontation, its Ibsenite central character.” —The Washington Post