brian david cinadr
“Cinadr’s brilliant debut novel, “there seemed a river”, does what many fiction writer’s have tried to do, but failed– to keep a driving, explosive narrative moving forward while utilizing the most unique, breath-taking lyricism since James Joyce. While he covers the terrain (both literal and metaphysical) of his protagonist’s dramatic journey home, of his loss, love, the vagaries and violence of family, and his deeply-wrung epiphanies, of the characters who stand in his way or pull him out of the mud, the central metaphor of the river works miraculously with the depth, tone, wit and uncommon grace that makes Cinadr’s novel unlike anything I’ve read in ten years. It is a book to treasure and we have an exciting new voice on the literary scene “that will” as Emily Dickinson said as her highest praise, “take the top of your head off.
Cathy Colman
Borrowed Dress, Time Crunch
“there seemed a river” is Brian’s first novel. “…a haunting, lyrical, novel… The sustained metaphor of the river as the place of dissolution, but also rebirth is beautifully handled, with intelligence and passion.”
Indiana University Press
“A truly unique and original American voice that I’ve been reading - and have been awed by - since I discovered his short stories nearly two decades ago.”
Ed Solomon
Levity, Men in Black, X-Men
Behind Cinadr’s gritty, working-class, earthbound stories, the human spirit perseveres and, on occasion, soars. “there seemed a river,” reads like one long poem. While his words resonate with pathos and at times dark humor, it is his ability to use language to evoke the unsaid and the unsayable that sets him apart and lingers.
Patti Connoly
Executive Vice President Warner Brothers Pictures
I have greatly enjoyed reading Brian’s stories. He is a lyrical, imaginative writer with an antennae keenly tuned to the twists and turns of contemporary American life.
Andy Summers
The Police, Guitarist, Photographer, Writer
“there seemed a river” has haunted me, has made me sad, has made me feel so profoundly with his characters and the places they inhabit I can’t get them out of my mind. Cinadr does what very few writers can do. Finally a true American tragedy.
Chris Moore
Producer Good Will Hunting, Manchester by the Sea…