Praise & endorsements

On the pleasure of stories.

Writers, poets, and storytellers respond to The Eleven Directions of Kansas.

“What a gem of a book! These deceptively simple, well-written, and evocative stories—part musing, part essay, part memoir, part flight of fancy, all heart—carry the reader to all the directions.”

Priscilla Howe, author of Clever, Kind, Tricky, & Sly

“A wonderful collection of writing about new ways to see our lives.”

Caryn-Mirriam Goldberg, former Kansas Poet Laureate and author of The Magic Eye

“Through the alchemy of the writer’s art, Gilkeson explores characters and goings-on that will quench every reader’s thirst for good storytelling.”

Hal Zina Bennett, author of Write From the Heart

“In a style both plain-spoken and poetic, Gilkeson can drive us in a single paragraph from the bottom of an ancient sea to the top of a worn-down mountain.”

Katrina Vandenberg, author of The Alphabet Not Unlike the World and Atlas: Poems

“Each essay is crisp and complete… Jim's observations of the physical world are just right, but his writing about humans is at another level of insight.”

Mary Howe, Ph.D.

“Jim’s explorations into life are as deep and present as his voice. Each story is a life study that will make you look at your own life and ask: What more do I have to tell?”

Jay Golden, author of Retellable

Explore the book