Here's what some early reviewers have to say.
Ann Weisgarber, author of The Glovemaker, The Promise, and The Personal History of Rachel DuPree:
"Wiegenstein again brilliantly plumbs the depths of human emotions. With his pitch-perfect sentences and compassionate insight, Wiegenstein’s memorable characters are achingly real as they grapple with their ordinary lives and peer into the uncertain future. Scattered Lights is one of the best collections of stories I’ve read in years."
Aarik Danielsen, Columbia Daily Tribune:
"In a book made of beautiful, complicated moving parts, Wiegenstein finds a greater sum. Considering these characters, he gives lie to the ways we think and talk about small towns and their people. . . . Each story in 'Scattered Lights; starts with uncommon understanding and ends exactly where it should, even if the reader leaves that corner of the world wanting more. In this, Wiegenstein's curiosity becomes our own — and that's the best gift a writer can give readers or the very characters he coaxes kicking, screaming, sighing and praying into the world."
John Mort, author of the Sullivan Prize-winning Down Along the Piney:
"Steve Wiegenstein, known to many Midwestern readers for the rigor and thoughtfulness of his historical novels, returns to his Ozarks roots in the twelve stories of Scattered Lights. He portrays ordinary, impoverished, small-town and country people in his polished, often elegant collection. Some are crazy; some are violent; some are no good. Mainly, these people are alive, and you’ll recognize them. They live in those little towns, those scattered lights you see looking down from an airplane, and they’re much like your grandmother, or your restless uncle who went off to see the world, or you."
Steve Yates, author of The Legend of the Albino Farm, Morkan's Quarry, and many others:
"In language both beautiful and crystal clear, Steve Wiegenstein opens the heart of the Ozarks in these stories. There are no stereotypes here, and he brings a multitude—young, aged, curious, jaded, desirous, bashful, stranded, and striving. Reading these tales feels like the moment when you top that final ridge before the outskirts and see the porch lights of home."
C.D. Albin, author of Hard Toward Home and Axe Fire Mule:
"Best known for his notable Daybreak series of historical novels, Steve Wiegenstein turns a deft hand to short fiction in his affecting new collection Scattered Lights. With warmth and earned insight, he reveals in story after story the vulnerable, disparate souls who together form the mysterious connections of community in small town, rural America."
