And deeply.

David Collard@davidcollard.bsky.social · 1h ago

A polite rebuttal to a hostile, uncomprehending review. Authors, publishers and readers all have skin in this game. Please share widely!

My letter in this week’s issue of @thetls.bsky.social Finding myself in uncharted waters, I felt it necessary. Share if you care about making room in our literary culture for work that swims against the tide.

Come along now, Mr. Metaphors—apply yourself. Wait a second, you review books . . . ?

Jeff (Mixed Metaphors)@mixedmetaphors.bsky.social · 8h ago

This is my experience too. It's taking me a long time to read it even though I *love* every line of it. (I'm also having to take breaks to read short fiction subs for a lit mag and now a book I'm supposed to review, but even without the excuses I can feel the pull of distraction.)

Drat . . .

Jeff Chon@jeffchon.bsky.social · yesterday

Here's a hot take about Guillermo's book. He could've simply published Tale of Three Voyages as a standalone novel and critics would've praised him for picking up where he left off with Lake of Urine. But where's the fun in that?

Here's a hot take about Guillermo's book. He could've simply published Tale of Three Voyages as a standalone novel and critics would've praised him for picking up where he left off with Lake of Urine. But where's the fun in that?

A fine, thoughtful review. It's interesting to see how many writers with skin in the game recognise this as a great novel, and many readers too. Some critics have got it all very wrong.

Jeff Chon@jeffchon.bsky.social · yesterday

I review of The Coast of Everything by @guillermostitch.bsky.social. Thanks to @ocreviewofbooks.bsky.social for allowing me the space to do so.

Deepest thanks to the reviewer and the Review!

Orange County Review of Books@ocreviewofbooks.bsky.social · yesterday

@guillermostitch.bsky.social's big, new novel, THE COAST OF EVERYTHING, "is an ode to storytelling and a counterstrike against the shortened attention spans of our troubled times." @jeffchon.bsky.social gives the book its due (@saggingmeniscus.bsky.social). ocreviewofbooks.org/2026/08/04/t...

I review of The Coast of Everything by @guillermostitch.bsky.social. Thanks to @ocreviewofbooks.bsky.social for allowing me the space to do so.

Orange County Review of Books@ocreviewofbooks.bsky.social · yesterday

@guillermostitch.bsky.social's big, new novel, THE COAST OF EVERYTHING, "is an ode to storytelling and a counterstrike against the shortened attention spans of our troubled times." @jeffchon.bsky.social gives the book its due (@saggingmeniscus.bsky.social). ocreviewofbooks.org/2026/08/04/t...

"With his novel, The Coast of Everything, author Guillermo Stitch swims against a particularly challenging tide." Many thanks to @jeffchon.bsky.social and @ocreviewofbooks.bsky.social for this review. ocreviewofbooks.org/2026/08/04/t...

The Coast of Everything by Guillermo Stitch

Reviewed by Eric Bies

ocreviewofbooks.org

Here's @jeffchon.bsky.social on @guillermostitch.bsky.social: "Great writers constantly swim against the tide.... Once they reach a certain point ... the coast no longer looks small. It looks complete."

The Coast of Everything by Guillermo Stitch

Reviewed by Jeff Chon

ocreviewofbooks.org

"With his novel, The Coast of Everything, author Guillermo Stitch swims against a particularly challenging tide." Many thanks to @jeffchon.bsky.social and @ocreviewofbooks.bsky.social for this review. ocreviewofbooks.org/2026/08/04/t...

The Coast of Everything by Guillermo Stitch

Reviewed by Eric Bies

ocreviewofbooks.org

Deepest thanks to the reviewer and the Review!

Orange County Review of Books@ocreviewofbooks.bsky.social · yesterday

@guillermostitch.bsky.social's big, new novel, THE COAST OF EVERYTHING, "is an ode to storytelling and a counterstrike against the shortened attention spans of our troubled times." @jeffchon.bsky.social gives the book its due (@saggingmeniscus.bsky.social). ocreviewofbooks.org/2026/08/04/t...

Very excited to present UNDERTOW. This will be a showcase of new and emerging writers of weird and wonderful fiction. If you'd like to take part, please click here: www.seamusheaneycentre.com/news/Callfor...

American publisher Jacob Smullyan offer a lucid and incisive appraisal of indie publishing - the challenges and opportunities. Small presses are where the best new writing appears first, and they're a vital part of our culture. Do support them.

Sagging Meniscus@saggingmeniscus.bsky.social · last wk.

Taylor Hayes interviews our publisher @smulloni.bsky.social on independent publishing: open.spotify.com/episode/63De...

"If I knew how to write books, writing books would bore me. And the books I’d write would bore me. And the books I’d write would bore you. "

Guillermo Stitch@guillermostitch.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Thanks to @writing.ie for running this piece.

And let's not forget The Coast of Everything, which should be your favorite book of the summer: share.google/C1T9xiPTWUO7...

"What each review has in common with the others is that it reads like the report of a surveyor who can’t find the front door, and so (for his supper) surveys the facade." A response to some baffling reviews of The Coast of Everything. Share if you care. www.3ammagazine.com/3am/a-litera...

I’m glad you were able to emerge from the MFA environment and still write something as special and individual as Still Alive! #booksky @malarkeybooks.bsky.social @dustinillingworth.bsky.social

I would give my right arm never to have had to write it, but there it is. @houmanbarekat.bsky.social @martindoyle.bsky.social @dwightgarner.bsky.social @tobylichtig.bsky.social @michaelcaines.bsky.social www.3ammagazine.com/3am/a-litera...

Paul Sweeney@paulsweeneypoet.bsky.social · 5d ago

This is some explication!

Now THIS is a review.

<Primary Salutation>@stevesparshott.bsky.social · 5d ago

It’s generally acknowledged that authors shouldn’t respond to negative reviews but I have to say @guillermostitch.bsky.social and publisher @saggingmeniscus.bsky.social are going about It methodically, reasonably and successfully.

That's what I like to hear.

Daniel David Froid@froid.bsky.social · 5d ago

I haven’t read this book, but this essay definitely makes me want to!

Can’t speak to the Cloud Atlas comparison as I haven’t read it, but if it’s just the chiasmus structure that reminded the reviewer, he wasted an awful lot of ink on it. I suspect wasting ink and accomplishing word count was on the priority list.

I don’t think there is much if any company though, given the very singular circumstances. I know of no instances of such high profile opprobrium piling up on anybody but a name author. Happy to be wrong - it would be a comfort.

I wonder is there a precedent—an obscure writer published by a tiny press on the receiving end, on publication, of three lengthy takedowns (2 of them full pagers!), devoid of substantive positives, in the preeminent reviewing publications of three countries? Answers below. #booksky

I do not often endorse authorial explanations but having read this book, and it’s criticisms, the author’s take in this rare case is a more accurate introduction to the book than any of its crude, other interpretations.

Guillermo Stitch@guillermostitch.bsky.social · 5d ago

I would give my right arm never to have had to write it, but there it is. @houmanbarekat.bsky.social @martindoyle.bsky.social @dwightgarner.bsky.social @tobylichtig.bsky.social @michaelcaines.bsky.social www.3ammagazine.com/3am/a-litera...

I would give my right arm never to have had to write it, but there it is. @houmanbarekat.bsky.social @martindoyle.bsky.social @dwightgarner.bsky.social @tobylichtig.bsky.social @michaelcaines.bsky.social www.3ammagazine.com/3am/a-litera...

Paul Sweeney@paulsweeneypoet.bsky.social · 5d ago

This is some explication!

This is some explication!

Guillermo Stitch@guillermostitch.bsky.social · 6d ago

"What each review has in common with the others is that it reads like the report of a surveyor who can’t find the front door, and so (for his supper) surveys the facade." A response to some baffling reviews of The Coast of Everything. Share if you care. www.3ammagazine.com/3am/a-litera...

I certainly had to catch my breath to write it

Sagging Meniscus@saggingmeniscus.bsky.social · 6d ago

In 3:AM Magazine, @guillermostitch.bsky.social  responds to his critics with a breathtaking essay about his novel, or "literary action," THE COAST OF EVERYTHING.

Yet ANOTHER thing me and Jimmy have in common.

David Collard@davidcollard.bsky.social · 6d ago

Illuminating! All recent, current and prospective readers of this extraordinary novel should read the author's thoughtful response to some very superficial and uncomprehending reviews. It was like this in 1922, when Ulysses was published - the philistine take was conservative, chippy and dim.

"What each review has in common with the others is that it reads like the report of a surveyor who can’t find the front door, and so (for his supper) surveys the facade." A response to some baffling reviews of The Coast of Everything. Share if you care. www.3ammagazine.com/3am/a-litera...