Thanks for This Riot

Reviews / Votes

"An acerbic examination of family and femininity."-Kirkus Reviews "Thanks for This Riot shows us what happens when we reach for understanding instead of judgment. This is a collection I will be thinking about for a long time."-Julia Romero, October Hill Magazine "Thanks for This Riot is a captivating book from beginning to end. It is clear that Bassett is a talented writer, for each story contains unique characters and emotionally resonant themes. I highly recommend you check out this book, especially if you enjoy the art of short fiction."-Dominique Weldon, Erato Magazine "Bassett never writes a judgmental line-if you are looking for irony or eye rolls, they are not here. Her stories play in shadows without being dark or blindly optimistic. Accept that people and their flaws make a flawed world. There's nothing to be gained by standing in the spotlight; make whimsey in the shade-it's way more fun."-Jeannine Burgdorf, Masters Review "Janelle Bassett's voice is one I can't get enough of. The stories in Thanks for This Riot are fresh and unique and wickedly off-kilter but also burn with a wry, age-old, ironic wisdom. This collection is bitingly funny but sincerely so, with little lies and harmless untruths taking on an edge and inflicting irresistible damage."-Timothy Schaffert, author of The Perfume Thief and The Titanic Survivors Book Club "Janelle Bassett is a phenomenal writer. These stories are smart, irreverent, hilarious, and so wonderfully intimate. It is rare to find a writer who can balance humor with such earnest human emotion, and Bassett does it on every page. This collection is gold."-Alison Espach, author of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance and The Wedding People "Janelle Bassett's writing is hilarious, intense, and alive. Every story in this collection is off-kilter in the best possible way. The characters are all trying to make sense of themselves in a world that doesn't fit quite right. Reading this felt like being tickled forcefully, laughing even as it got uncomfortable."-Katya Apekina, author of Mother Doll and The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish