The Bee Sting

JONATHAN RUSSELL CLARK, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

"The Bee Sting...ought to cement Murray's already high standing. Another changeup, it's a triumph of realist fiction, a big, sprawling social novel in the vein of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. The agility with which Murray structures the narrative around the family at its heart is virtuosic and sure-footed, evidence of a writer at the height of his power deftly shifting perspectives, style and syntax to maximize emotional impact. Hilarious and sardonic, heartbreaking and beautiful — there's just no other way to put it: The Bee Sting is a masterpiece."