“Corey Mesler has unhinged my brain and filled it with words so artfully arranged that they make me want to weep with envy. He blurs the lines between prose and song so that the writer becomes the singer: observant, lyrical, and passionate. Every story in As a Child is a treat.”

—Laura Benedict, author of Bliss House

"Reading the stories in Corey Mesler's marvelous new collection, As A Child, I try to figure out how he can so nimbly distill pathos into joy, fear and desire into sweet hilarity, and language itself into a vehicle of pure delight.  Magic is the only explanation that comes to mind." 

            —Steve Stern, author of The Book of Mischief and the Jewish Book Award winner The Wedding Jester

“In As a Child: Stories, Corey Mesler is once again tender, inventive, and gently fearless. Mesler's stories transport the reader to a land where nothing matters but the madly beating heart.  Be prepared for what you never knew you knew, and hold on tight. It is all there.”

            —Meg Pokrass, author of Damn Sure Right

“Wise, raucous, straight-shooting, poignant, funny as all hell, and, at times, brutal and uplifting, the eclectic and electric collection of stories in Corey Mesler’s As a Child sucked me in and carried me away from the very first page.  The vibrant, real-as-can-be characters and Mesler’s economic, evocative prose (my favorite kind) bring to mind that master of the gothic short story, Flannery O’Connor.  I would have followed his characters into full-length novels.  I certainly plan to follow Mesler into the pages of all his books to come.”

—Jennifer Niven, author of Velva Jean Learns to Drive and American Blonde

“Having just finished reading Corey Mesler’s As a Child, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do right now than start reading it all over again. The first time, I was smiling all the way through. I felt like the guy in one story who self-medicates by eating a dime and finds his world transformed. These are stories filled with wit and surprise, with heart-busting sadness and romping joy.”

—Josephine Humphreys, author of Rich in Love