PRAISE
PRAISE FOR THE COMPLICATED CALCULUS (AND COWS) OF CARL PAULSEN
The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen featured in the Hennepin County Library’s “LGBTQIA2S+ Minnesota Authors for Youth.” View the list here.
The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen listed as recommended reading for celebrating Pride Month 2023 by the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP). View the list here.
“You can’t help but love Carl for his earnest longing, his frustrations and his need to be who he is and to truly get who that person is and what matters to him, and its his empathetic rendering by Peter that fills the The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen with warmth and honesty so vibrantly thoughtful and sweetly affecting that it’s the sort of novel that stays with you long after the cows, the chores and supper with his family.”
—sparklyprettybriiight.com
Read the full text of the review here.
“This debut novel… is a heartfelt and sympathetic portrayal of an all-too-dangerous experience for many gay youth, the fraught negotiation of early romantic interest. Though marketed as young-adult fiction, The Complicated Calculus (And Cows) of Carl Paulsen explores themes that will interest readers of all ages…In addition to exploring the (unfortunately) all-too-common problems of social isolation, teenage awkwardness, school bullying, and financial insecurity, the novel thoughtfully portrays an experience that for years has received far too little attention: the unique challenge of making one’s way in the world as a gay youth…While Carl is a sympathetic figure, the author is careful to keep him grounded in the real world. He has no superpowers; instead, he’s an ordinary kid negotiating a difficult situation as best he can, and doing a pretty good job at it. This thoughtful, reflective novel has us rooting for him all along.”
—Small Press Picks
Read the full text of the review here.
Recommended by the Cincinnati Public Library: "Short Reads for Long Nights" for teen readers. Read more here.
Featured on National Public Radio Weekend Edition’s “NPR staff Recommend the Fiction Books We Love,” December 18, 2022. Listen here.
Named one of National Public Radio's 2022 Young Adult "Books We Love":
“Carl’s self-discovery is multivariable: Infatuation. Awkward first sex. Joy. Guilt. Reprisal. He meets a boy at the start of high school who inspires him to act. The object of Carl’s affection isn’t as innocent as he lets on, which breaks Carl’s heart open to the world in ways he didn’t expect. The novel also breaks readers’ hearts open to the lives of two high school kids navigating the complexities of loves and losses. Carl’s father, a struggling dairy farmer (that’s where the cows come in), surprises as a gentle and generous figure softened by tragedies of his own. That might be why adults read YA literature – to learn the lessons we wish we’d learned in adolescence.”
—Jason DeRose, NPR
“Gary Eldon Peter’s The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen is a terrific read – for so many ages. Are we ever too old to forget our first romantic feelings, our initial sexual experiences?…I’ll forgo the usual temptation to over-quote for the mere joy of sharing: rather, read the fine book!”
—Rainbow Book Reviews
Read the full text of the review here.
“Peter’s novel is…well executed, especially its farm setting, which the author seems to love as much as Carl. Readers will, too.”
—Michael Cart
Booklist
Read the full text of the review here.
“…a gentle, earnest tale worth reading…a book whose virtues are solid and sure… its calm wobble keeps you just off-balance enough to make the ride interesting…The Complicated Calculus (And Cows) Of Carl Paulsen pours you a glass of milk and sits you down in front of a plate of cookies to tell you its story, but it keeps you entertained down to the last crumb.”
—Jerry Wheeler
Out in Print
Read the full text of the review here.
“Anyone who’s ever been through tenth grade will remember the feelings of trying to figure out who you are and where you’re trying to go in the world…a succinct story that flows smoothly…you won’t be able to put it down…very meaningful.”
—Mary Lanni
Librarian and Book Reviewer/Blogger
View the full text of the review here.
“If this were a story of love alone, it would be interesting; but life rarely is a singular experience. Adding the turmoil of changed family relationships and the demands of a family business that was a deceased parent's dream passed on to reluctant inheritors makes for a particularly involving interplay of events…Carl's introspection, questioning, and experience power a young adult coming-of-age story in a manner that will prove compelling to readers—even those relatively unfamiliar with the Midwest, family businesses, or forbidden first crushes…
As Carl explores his world, its expectations, and his place in it, young adults receive adult insights into the psychology of family relationships, social influences, and motivations for actions and choices. These both impart lessons and represent opportunities for deep thinking.
Libraries looking for coming-of-age young adult fiction that explores blossoming sexuality and the possibilities of same-sex love will find The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen a fine study in interpersonal relationships and growth.”
—D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer
Midwest Book Review
Read the full text of the review here.
Featured in “July’s Most Anticipated LGTBQIA+ Literature,” Lambda Literary Review, July 2022.
Featured in “33 Novels, Thrillers and Young Adult Books You’ll Want to Read This Summer,” Star Tribune, June 11, 2022.
“Set in richly described southern Minnesota, Peter’s YA debut is a compact, touching introspection on one gay teenager’s first love…an alternate and necessary perspective to queer youth’s myriad challenges.”
—Publishers Weekly
Read the full text of the review here.
“Meet Carl Paulsen – he’s not rich, urban, or ‘fabulous.’ He’s a farm boy devoted to his cows, his younger sister, and his widowed father (in that order). When Carl meets Andy Olnan, the new boy in town, everything suddenly changes, just like that moment in West Side Story when Maria meets Tony. I absolutely loved this fresh, unpredictable, and heartrending-but-hopeful book. Funny, sad, closeted farm kid Carl Paulsen is my new best friend.”
—Brian Malloy
Author of The Year of Ice and After Francesco
“With insight and grace, Gary Eldon Peter explores the big questions: Who am I? Who will I be? And who will I let truly know me? This novel's gentleness is underlain with the absolute determination of a quiet teenager's quest for self-identity.”
—Alison McGhee
Author of Where We Are and What I Leave Behind
“Carl Paulsen wants to belong to this world, broken though it may be. There is a magic in this book, magic that makes us feel we are in this young man's heart as he struggles to find his place in the world. The words shimmer with gentle, heartbreaking empathy. The result is a beautiful piece of fiction, sure to make anyone who reads it feel less alone.”
—N. West Moss
Author of Flesh and Blood and The Subway Stops at Bryant Park
“Gary Eldon Peter’s debut novel, The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen, is what great young adult fiction should be. It’s brilliant, beautiful, and brave—the sort of story that grabs you by the hand and pulls you forward, page after page, until you reach the end and finally take a breath. There’s nothing complicated about it: this is a great novel.”
—Bryan Bliss
National Book Award long-listed author of We’ll Fly Away
“In this engrossing coming of age story, Carl, a teenager living with his family on a Minnesota dairy farm, grapples with first love, the loss of his mother, and his distanced relationship with his father. Peter's intimate and nuanced portrayal of Carl’s romantic feelings for the charismatic and mysterious new student, Andy, and the hopes Carl has for a more authentic connection with those around him is deeply honest and endearing. An inspiring story about the courage it takes to be your whole self no matter what.”
—Veera Hiranandani
Author of the Newbery Honor–winning The Night Diary
The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen is available through Regal House Publishing, Amazon (paperback and Kindle), Indiebound, bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble, or from your local independent bookseller.
PRAISE FOR ORANGES
“A good book is one that improves with subsequent readings. Oranges by Gary Eldon Peter is such a book… It has the ring of authenticity. The writing is spare and subtle. The drama is low key, but this is appropriate for a story of this gay man growing up in the Midwest. When I picked up Oranges again to write this review, I enjoyed it even more than my first reading. It really gives us a chance to walk in someone else’s shoes.”
— Friends of American Writers Chicago
“This short, competition-winning volume of linked stories by Gary Eldon Peter is a solid bet for fellow lovers of short stories….Peter’s prose is vivid but not flashy, free of clutter, with just enough detail to set the scene. He leaves plenty of room for the reader’s imagination to fill in the gaps….Oranges is a strong set of stories, perfect for rainy Spring afternoons that look forward to sunny mornings.”
— Jerry Wheeler
Out in Print
“Through the window of the short story format, Gary Eldon Peter successfully synthesizes not just a singular experience, but winds many lives into the social, political, and interpersonal relationships of changing times and increasing public awareness of gay individuals, and their prevalence in American society….readers receive a pointed and compelling piece about aging, social and psychological changes, and moments of understanding that successfully penetrate stigma, prejudice, and social barriers….Oranges is a delightful compilation of such moments, traversing changing times, culture, relationships, and levels of acceptance and understanding both within and outside of the gay community. Readers who choose Oranges for its revelations about changing attitudes, hearts, and minds will find each story lingers in the mind long after the reading; much like the pungent scent of sweet oranges remains in one's taste memory long after the last satisfying bite.”
— Diane C. Donovan, Senior Reviewer
Midwest Book Review
“I just finished reading the story collection Oranges by Minnesota author Gary Eldon Peter. It is a poignant, lovely, personal story that is beautifully written and very genuine….so glad I bought this book. Loved it, and am recommending it to my friends.”
— “Readers Recommend Books” Feature
Star Tribune
“A debut collection of linked short stories about love, loss, and intimacy, Oranges is a gentle look at what it means to come of age and grow older as a gay man in the Midwest….Peter is talented at honing in on small moments that reveal character, and he sensitively captures the quietude of life in the Midwest….His stories earnestly depict an endless longing for human connection against the backdrop of a placid landscape.”
— Michael Kaler
Lambda Literary Review
Read the full text of the review here.
"This is an author who clearly has an intimate yet objective relationship with his characters; he presents them simply. Their relationships are complicated but their lives are not fancy.…It is simply a life lived. Reading Oranges, we watch a man grow up and change and stay the same, endure losses and victories of the heart, and we feel more whole ourselves for having read it."
— Jimmy Newborg
The Common
Read the full text of the review here.
“Peter writes revealingly about things we all experience. The haunting aura left by a former lover. Sparks of humor even in tending to grim details of a dying parent. The incompleteness, the compromises, of our closest relationships…Convincing and humane, these stories introduce a welcome voice that expertly exposes foibles and gently reveals how we hurt and help and love one another.”
— Claude Peck
Star Tribune
Read the full text of the review here.
“Gary Eldon Peter’s debut collection Oranges is the work of a short story writer with a keen sense of the human heart. These powerful stories, told with startling honesty and compassion, serve as evidence of our universal longing for deep connection. Carefully rendered and tenderly imagined, full of flawed and utterly convincing characters, this is a collection that honors small mercies and the transformative power of love.”
— Sheila O’Connor
Author of Evidence of V and Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth
“What we do as artists is gather up pieces of lives and try our best, if not to make sense of them, then at least to find or create patterns that help rescue them from rubble. ‘Knock hard. Life is deaf,’ Mimi Parent wrote. Oranges, like all great writing, never lets down but keeps on leaning towards us, speaking, till we listen—hard.
“There’s a great deal to admire in Oranges. Ground-control matters like clean, economical writing, strong characters, vivid scenes. Effective shifts in tense and point of view. Fine evocations of emotions in all their mutability. The structure itself, giving us the stuff and heft of a novel along with the freshness and renewed engagement of short stories. Strikingly, the effortless way the writer traces lineaments of past ever flowing into present, present forever washing back into past: memory becoming anticipation; anticipation, memory.
“Everywhere I have a sense of consciousness ranging over the raw stuff of a life, putting pieces together first this way then that, casting about for something that might hold. Whether it be a Montaigne essay or Blind Willie McTell’s T’Ain’t Long fo’ Day, this is what great art does. And this is what Gary Eldon Peter has done.”
— James Sallis, Final Judge, 2016 New Rivers Press Many Voices Project Competition in Prose
Author of Drive and The Killer is Dying
“Oranges is a book of quiet, enormous strength, a collection of slow-gathering moments that add up to the story of Michael Dolin, a gay man whose life and loves are shaped by the AIDS crisis, Midwestern social strictures, and expectations for men. There is so much here, such compassion, such nerve and bite—this is a beautiful book, full of sorrow, surprise, and delight.”
— Audrey Niffenegger
Author of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry
“Gary Eldon Peter writes stories of great intimacy and wit, with an eye toward those awkward moments in which we are often most human and alive and hard to contain. I couldn't put Oranges down and missed it the instant I finished.”
— Paul Lisicky
Author of The Narrow Door: A Memoir of Friendship
Oranges is available through Amazon (paperback and Kindle), Small Press Distribution, Indiebound, bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble, or from your local independent bookseller.