“This is vintage work from a writer with all the right stuff. Immensely enjoyable.”
—Mordecai Richler

“Compelling—and often surprisingly comic. . . . Vanderhaeghe has an uncanny ear for the vernacular. . . . A polished volume of finely crafted tales.”
—Maclean’s

“These are wonderful stories. Many contain a wealth of character and event which could sustain entire novels. Such an unabashedly entertaining collection of stories is very rare.”
—Bill Gaston, Halifax Daily News

“An unqualified delight. . . . His stories have drama but he avoids being melodramatic, weaving an artistic web out of the strands of everyday life. His characters and themes are both particular and universal, contemporary and timeless.”
—Canadian Book Review Annual

“Vanderhaeghe creates vivid, credible characters. . . . [These stories] draw the reader into the dramatic tensions that arise from people living at cross purposes. . . . Vanderhaeghe is an important voice."
—Vancouver Sun

“Guy Vanderhaeghe is extraordinarily adept at taking readers beyond the visible surface and into the emotional heart of his characters. . . . His vivid prose takes the reader into the skin of his creations.”
—NOW

“[Vanderhaeghe’s stories showcase] a flexible and authentic narrative voice; complex narrative strategy; precise rendition of place, time and mood; broad and penetrating intellect; generous and incisive wit; and remarkably felicitous language. . . . He brings readers closer to the pathos of human existence. . . . The particularity and precision of Vanderhaeghe’s characterization paradoxically opens onto universal issues. . . . Penetrating and moving."
—Event

“Things As They Are is impressively varied, ten pieces that capture the absurdity of the human condition, yet retain a compassion that gives them depth.”
—Toronto Sun

“Vanderhaeghe’ s talent for seeing things as they are keeps Things As They Are from the grimness its themes might suggest. There is pain here, to be sure, and an aching awareness of our lack of generosity to each other, but it’s leavened with a high-spirited and unselfconscious heartiness that makes those conditions only a part of the broader range of human experience.”
—Ottawa Citizen

“Things As They Are is a terrific collection, full of memorable and moving characters vividly rendered.”
—Broadway Magazine