Review by Grady Harp
After reading Shawn Stewart Ruff’s first novel FINLATER in 2008 this deeply impressed reader remarked the following; ‘Shawn Stewart Ruff may be a name known to only a few avid readers of short stories, but with the publication of FINLATER this gifted writer is bound to be recognized as a very important voice in American literature. Few writers are able to relate a story from a child’s vantage as keenly as Ruff: echoes of such writers as JD Salinger and Colm Toibin and JG Hayes are present in this tender little love story that offers finely honed insights into the impact of racial tensions on the sociologic changes of the 1970s. It is a book that deserves wide critical attention as well as a broad readership.’ A wide acclaim as well as important literary awards became reality. Some years later, in 2013, my admiration grew: ‘That Shawn Stewart Ruff is a gifted writer is a given. Continue reading