Hoopty Time Machines
fairy tales for grown ups

(Atticus Books, ISBN 978-0-9915469-6-1)

Reviews

"The best flash fiction collection I have read so far, and I read many." – Mark Budman, Fiction Southeast

"The literary equivalent of a perfect mix tape... There are doorstop novels out there that fail to achieve the emotional impact DeWan can generate with a single honest, well-crafted sentence." – Laura Garrison, Jersey Devil Press

"With this collection he joins writers like Donald Barthelme, Kelly Link, Etger Keret, and Carmen Maria Machado." – Amanda Krupman, SmokeLong Quarterly

"Funny and devastating." – Jennifer Messner, Books, Personally

"DeWan’s brilliant use of language and his well-crafted, strong characters will tear off a piece of your heart." – Emily Teitsworth, The Adirondack Review

"A gorgeous collection." – Romuald Dzemo, San Francisco Book Review

"As authentic and accessible as it is sincere and uncanny." – Gabriella Shriner, The Literary Review

"Imaginative and terrifying.... Be warned, reader, there is danger here, and you will certainly welcome it." – The Wild Hunt

"Every page houses a shiny little bauble of perfection." – Miette's Bedtime Story

"DeWan's voice shines." – The Triangle

"A compelling mix of fairy tales, folk tales, and modern-day fables that is very much worth your time."  – Eric Andrew Newman, Heavy Feather Review

"It is all hits and no misses." – Kelsey Styles, Blue & Gold

"You'll be charmed." – T.L. Sherwood, Literary Orphans

"Gaspingly original and daring.... Read this." – Kathy Fish

Advance Praise for Hoopty Time Machines:

"Hoopty Time Machines is much like a bag of M&M's, in that it's nearly impossible, once you've opened it, not to consume it down to the last morsel, and fast. It is less like a bag of M&M's in that you never know what you'll find beneath the candy coating: a peanut or an amphetamine, a rosary bead or a thumbtack." – Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Illumination

"Like Barry Yourgrau went on tour with sad, lyrical stand-up routines—funny, sharp, playful zingers of stories that reach right out to grab a reader." – Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

"Absurd, heartbreaking, terrifying, outrageously funny—the stories in Christopher DeWan’s Hoopty Time Machines are all of these things, often all at once. Reading the book is like staring into a spiderwebbed mirror, the perfect vessel by which to understand our fractured, absurdist world. There are hints of Barthelme, Vonnegut, and Calvino to be found here, but make no mistake: DeWan is something gloriously new." – Nathan Ballingrud, author of North American Lake Monsters

"Christopher DeWan's Hoopty Time Machines is that rare story collection that is both a total blast to read and a complete philosophical package. These abrupt, funny, vigorous stories—involving urban legends, minotaurs, little mermaids, chupacabras, and changelings—contain in their brevity vast depth and import. These are stories to read, reread, and perennially enjoy." – Sharma Shields, author of The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac

"An absolute delight from the first page to the last: it's like that scene in Singin' in the Rain, only with ideas instead of puddles." – Ben Loory, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day

"Sometimes funny, often tragic, usually bizarre, and always interesting." – Ramona Ausubel, author of Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty

"There's a tang to it, unsettling humour, a wiseness, implacability—and a hint of danger. In short, Hoopty Time Machines is a book that will fill you with a sense of the oceanic. Breathe it in." – Helen McClory, author of Flesh of the Peach

Praise From the Author's Mom

"Powerful and provocative." - Elaine DeWan

Interviews with Christopher DeWan:

An Interview with Christopher DeWan. By Michael Noll, Read to Write Stories

Hope, Aspiration, and "American Dream Stuff": An Interview with Christopher DeWan. By Chuck Augello, Cease, Cows.

"Flash is a Special Kind of Magic." A Chat With Christopher DeWan, Author of Hoopty Time Machines. By Brianne Kohl, The Review Review.

Of Wonder and Shadows: An Interview with Christopher DeWan, author of Hoopty Time Machines. By Steph Post.

Feature: Christopher DeWan. By The Cornell Club of Greater Los Angeles

Flash Fiction and Happy Accidents. By LitWrap.

What Can We Steal From Christopher DeWan's "The Atheist of Dekalb Street"? By Great Writers Steal.

Hoopty Time Machines book cover

Christopher DeWan's HOOPTY TIME MACHINES: fairy tales for grown ups is a collection of forty-five fantastical stories filled with peculiar journeys and wild awakenings, with fairytale heroines, introspective superheroes, and a whole menagerie of monsters—each one deeply human, and a little bit heartbreaking.

Order now. And travel with us through time at Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Cover art by Yevgenia Nayberg.