Exploiting Sanctuary

“There is something deeply gratifying to me about Castleman's writing. In part, it's the way his prose combines sincerity and self-awareness—a knack that too few writers seem to have mastered, resorting instead to the by-now cheap refuge of irony. Even more though, it's the way in which Castleman uses language. In each line of his writing is evident his love of words and his struggle with them, each sentence a baroque and fascinating effort to say commonplaces in a new way, a Herculean weight. Whatever failings it may have, it is a reminder of the rebellious, painful, vital things that words (and the life of words) ought to be.” —Matthew Flaming