"Hating Olivia is the kind of book - the kind of memoir - that must have been lived first. Survived. So strap yourself in. It's time for a real treat." - Dan Fante, author of Chump Change and 86'd
"It is a book of quiet horrors and beautifully expressed longing. Whether describing the attempted extraction of a still wriggling cockroach from the ear cavity of a screaming fellow lodger, or the endless, burning rage of an abused and abusive lover, SaFranko's prose is precise, flawless and the work of a man who truly loves and understands great writing. To be a fan of Mark SaFranko is to belong to an exclusive club: to appreciate the work of a man who is a truly great American writer, yet who has not been commodified, exploited and repackaged for the masses. Yet, that is." "[Hating Olivia] stands proudly alongside the giants: a book so packed with blood, poetry, heart and pain that I could barely believe, after I put it down, that the author wasn't a household name already." --- Tony O'Neill - Tony O'Neill, author of Down and Out on Murder Mile and Sick City
"... a book of quiet horrors and beautifully expressed longing... SaFranko's prose is precise, flawless and the work of a man who truly loves and understands great writing." - Tony O'Neill, author of Down and Out on Murder Mile and Sick City
"SaFranko's prose, though blunt and unadorned, is superbly crafted and moves with cinematic velocity toward its bleak (but often comic) conclusions. "Hating Olivia charts Zajack's obsessive relationship with a woman - as unstable and toxic as him - named Olivia Aphrodite. Weeks after meeting Olivia the passion disintegrates into madness and betrayal. And sexual obsession, or sexual madness, works as the obvious narrative engine for this story, one that hooks you from the beginning and doesn't let up for a moment." - --- Salvatore Difalco (Toro Magazine)
Hating Olivia is a remarkable tale of obsession and lust, a stunning portrait of a dangerously alienated hero masterfully told. You will not be able to put it down." - Mary Dearborn, author of Mailer: A Biography
""SaFranko's prose is enthusiastically profane...as a narrator Max is engaging, funny and full of straight-talk....SaFranko has a talent for two-fisted, Bukowski-esque prose..." - Kirkus Reviews
"Safranko manages to create a story whose characters, pace, and structure make all previous assumptions null and void.... [He] attaches a powerful message to an often painfully familiar story, about the individual versus the collective, the struggle to maintain the dream, and the importance of getting back up no matter how many times you fall." - Booklist
"Safranko attaches a powerful message to an often painfully familiar story, about the individual versus the collective, the struggle to maintain the dream, and the importance of getting back up no matter how many times you fall." - Booklist
