I Was a Revolutionary: Stories - Tapa dura

"Riveting fiction in which Milward's fascination with his home state's history serves the plot and characters rather than the other way around. . . . unlike many young writers, his gaze isn't directed at his own navel, but outward at the rough, strange history of the state that formed him."--The Millions

"He sets a standard for the story collection. This collection brims with accessible originality, unparalleled range and thought-provoking heartbreak. . . . Like E.L. Doctorow in 'Ragtime, ' Milward fashions high art from historical events and figures."--Jackson Clarion-Ledger

"In this brilliant, inventive collection, Milward channels ghosts from his native Kansas into eight stories that could spring only from that fraught border of the Civil War."--New York Times Book Review

"This is an evocative and provoking collection, full of Andrew Milward's inventive craft."--New York Journal of Books

"Throughout the book, Milward makes astute observations about politics, not only about the political climate of past eras but also of our own-a rarity in contemporary American fiction."--BookPage

"The writing is always bold, the stakes are always high...I Was A Revolutionary recalls W. G. Sebald in its interweaving of historical memory and present concerns, and Aleksandar Hemon in its understanding that fragments can set off adventures."--Will Chancellor, author of A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall

"Milward's collection is both political and a love song. Milward's aching ballads are about Kansas, in particular, but in their brilliant, kaleidoscopic view of history, they offer penetrating insight about America as a whole. Read this book."--Elliott Holt, author of You Are One of Them

"Andrew Malan Milward is a subtle writer with an unsparing eye and a heart as vast as the prairie...a writer to cheer for."--Lauren Groff, author of Fates and Furies

"Spanning a hundred and fifty years in the history of Kansas, the eight vivid and masterfully linked stories in I Was A Revolutionary are a stunning example of the importance of 'place' in literature. Without a doubt, Andrew Malan Milward is one of the smartest and most inventive writers working today."--Donald Ray Pollock, author of Knockemstiff and The Devil All the Time

"Kansas bursts from the pages of this ingenious, dazzling collection. Andrew Malan Milward turns his home state into an enthralling main character, escorting us through corridors of history and mythology into the very core of the country."--Shawn Vestal, author of Godforsaken Idaho