When Yellow Leaves

James Reiss’s madcap miscellany of Americana features a young photographer’s wide-angle view of his family versus the camera-shy tyranny of a dictator known as Guv’na Brush. Reiss’s panoramic picture of the Wild West is as far out as his battle scene between men on mopeds and horsepeople with a taste for freedom and fine wine. Sentence by sentence, this is more than a lively read; it could be the story of our lives.

"Set in the near future in a desert state grappling with sandstorms and external threats, this novel tells the story of a man named Boyd as his life undergoes several upheavals over the course of many days. A number of stylized elements stand out, including a ritualized aspect found in many characters’ speech, involving tributes to the head of state, one Guv’na Brush. Largely, this plays out like a fun-house reflection of contemporary politics, from Brush’s general dislike of literature, photography, and media to an allusion made to something being “a ruse cooked up by reporters.” Hints are scattered throughout as to how the present day gave way to this more catastrophic landscape; the ways in which dates have given way to a system based on a cult of personality suggest a more authoritarian version of the calendar found in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. There are abundant contrasts to be found here, from the evocative landscapes that Boyd observes to the not-exactly-subtle commentary Reiss makes on American conservatism, militarism, racism, and anti-intellectualism. At times the juxtaposition between the two makes for a memorably jarring experience; at others, its relative success may depend on where its reader falls on the political spectrum."—Kirkus Reviews

Praise for James Reiss

“In Reiss. . .memories are like pictures cut out of magazines, inertia and insomnia are the two forms of life. Pursued by the same phantoms, which reappear on the telephone, in sequential rooms, in snapshots, in slides, Reiss writes them down in an accomplished plain style.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“All in all, this is an impressive. . .book, solid rather than flashy; [it does] not make grand pronouncements [but has]. . .what Howard Nemerov called ‘great primary human drama.’”
—The New Republic

“Reiss writes with urgency and zing. He travels through time and distance, using brand names and the heroes of pop culture as touchstones of American life: Uneeda Biscuits, Groucho Marx, Jay Silverheels, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Life Savers. . . .There isn’t a dull page in the book.”
—Library Journal

“Filled with the unpredictable details that fill city life, Reiss. . .carries the reader along, like fellow passengers in the express subway car, traveling through familiar (sometimes not so friendly) locales while following the poet’s train of thought. . . .Whatever slice of life he chooses, Reiss’s typical American experiences come through: fresh, affectionately direct, touchingly true.”
—Booklist

“Reiss has always been a committed story-teller (from his first book, The Breathers) and as he admits, without fanfare here: ‘I write to slow things down.’ The conceit of lowered velocity, of slow going, works well here . . . . Reiss has acquired, over years, a gleaming lens—one of highly-perfected observation and carefully-adjusted speed. We recall Issa: ‘Climb Mt. Fuji: but slowly, slowly.’”
—The Huffington Post