“Dorene O'Brien's ‘#12 Dagwood on Rye’ is an entirely convincing, slow-burning, complicated tale of depression, medication and anxiety...Finally, it was the odder story which took First Prize. Oddness has its strengths, in literature at least. Congratulations then to Dorene O'Brien, and to the other dozen prize winners who were the brightest but not the only points of light and inspiration in this constellation of 4000 stars.”

— Bridport Prize Short Story judge Jim Crace “ ‘Little Birds’ stands out for its command of the craft of the short story.”

— Red Rock Review short story judge José Skinner “ ‘Tom Hanks Wants a Story,’ a finalist in this year’s Greensboro Review fiction contest, is clever and adventurous.”

— Jen Julian, Greensboro Review Fiction Editor “Fierce, economical, completely persuasive, and compelling, Voices of the Lost and Found is like the strongest and rawest prose by a poet from an American folk tradition that we know exists but seldom hear from.”

— Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, professor of English at University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of Joss and Gold and Among the White Moon Faces “As numerous awards testify, O'Brien's talent, her sheer virtuosity, has long been apparent. Here we get a sampling of her multiple voices — young and old, men and women, rich and poor; funny, tragic, mad; lost and found. In reading her, Nathanael West comes to mind, and Flannery O'Connor: that flinty unflinchingness before life's inexplicabilities, that defiant laugh in the face of darkness.”

— Christopher T. Leland, professor of English at Wayne State University and author of Letting Loose “This dark, vivid collection brings to mind the stories of Mary Gaitskill and Joyce Carol Oates, but in the end O'Brien's voice is very much her own, blazingly original, calling to life an unforgettable gallery of desperate characters. Their voices—vibrant and broken, wistful and defiant—stay with you, echoing in your ears long after the last page.”

— Megan Abbott, author of Die a Little and The Song is You “Voices of the Lost and Found is a collection to be read enthusiastically for its invention and its heart, as well as for its intelligence and sensitivity, its sense of the comic, the absurd, the fusion of human incongruities that serve to clarify our place in the world. Dorene O’Brien is a real talent, and I feel lucky to have been introduced to her work, which is intense and painful, and, at her best, resonant and quite lovely.”

— Jack Driscoll, writer-in-residence at Interlochen Center for the Arts and author of Lucky Man, Lucky Woman and How Like an Angel: A Novel “Voices of the Lost and Found is a strong debut, and at its best showcases a writer with an impressive array of talents, including a sharp eye for detail and a deft descriptiveness that never gets in the way of the main attraction, her spectacularly drawn characters. More than anything, it is the strong and unique voices of her narrators that will lure you into these stories and that you will remember long after you’ve finished reading this excellent collection. O'Brien is a talent to keep on the lookout for, and Voice of the Lost and Found is a great place to start watching.”

— Matt Bell, read the complete review on his blog www.mdbell.com
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— Sou'Wester Review of Voices of the Lost and Found www.siue.edu/ENGLISH/SW/fall2008_book_reviews.pdf