Praise for Hold Still "Ehrenreich is wrestling with the idea of story itself--what it takes to put a life in order, what''s sacrificed when you do so, and whether it''s possible or fair to try. A meditative and wide-ranging response to loss."--Kirkus Reviews "Journalist Ehrenreich (Desert Notebooks) began writing the dreams, fables, and meditations in this deceptively simple collection after the 2022 death of his mother, author and activist Barbara Ehrenreich. [his] searching prose doesn''t provide answers, but it aims at them, admirably. Never sentimental or self-pitying, this impresses with its honesty."--Publishers Weekly "After his mother--the celebrated writer and activist Barbara Ehrenreich--died in 2022, Ben Ehrenreich set a goal to deal with his grief: he would write a story every day. This project forms the basis of this book, part short fiction, part memoir, about dealing with the loss of a parent while becoming one yourself. "--Emily Temple, Literary Hub "No two Ben Ehrenreich books resemble each other, and Hold Still finds him mourning, searching, laughing, and hoping across dozens of exquisite palm-of-the-hand stories, which you can enjoy at random (you have my permission) or consume in a single awestruck sitting.

"--Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams "Ben Ehrenreich''s Hold Still is a lyrical meditation on grief, attachment, and family--particularly on his mother, American author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich, and her death--and on the essential wandering into and out of dreams and stories that gives way to a contemplative, at times surreal, attention to plant and animal life and to the world''s ongoing violence and turmoil, all set against a backdrop of caregiving undertaken to keep his family close--fed, nurtured, and held--and to understand how they are seen and known in their intimacies and freedoms."--Prageeta Sharma, author of Onement Won "This is a book one reads again and again. Ehrenreich''s rendition of grief literature is as porous and wistful as it is private and dignified. Hold Still is unpretentious, even seemingly effortless, yet it weaves together intricate threads of stories, metaphors, and quips into one glorious punchline after the next. By the final page, you can''t help but turn back to the first."--Mohammed el-Kurd, author of Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal "Hold Still arrives like an IBEW crew rolling up to restore power for whole neighborhoods. Maybe you didn''t realize how long everything''s gone dark. Ben Ehrenreich uses grief here as a lever, revealing the electric and the extraordinary in the ordinary, sharing daily moments in the light of their own transparent brilliance.

This astonishing book''s not some jittery or tired buzz--we needed this jolt stronger than juice. Here, Hold Still."--Sesshu Foster, author of Atomik Aztex "Hold Still is at once a refusal of numbness and a capture of the very rich texture of daily life. A small family, a city street, oatmeal, king tides, avian flu, the death of a parent . Shot through with grief and affection, it''s an example of how one might reclaim time and fully inhabit it. Ben Ehrenreich is a wonderful writer."--Chris Kraus, author of The Four Spent the Day Together "The miniature stories in Hold Still are dazzling and painful, restless and sometimes absurd--but above all they are directly and unflinchingly human. They circle around grief and melancholy, exploring in an unvarnished way what it means to lose a parent while living on with a child of your own.

Hold Still is a quiet, potent book."--Brian Evenson, author of Good Night, Sleep Tight "Hold Still churns and resonates as a narrative in fragments--stories as vaults for mourning and contemplation, memory and observation. The quotidian veers into the fanciful, the horrific, and back again. Grief charges Ehrenreich''s rotation through hectic airports, slow, lumbering bus rides, and rainy walks. Birds of all kinds take turns animating the novel''s shifting emotional landscape. Hold Still draws its extraordinary power from a pair of whirlwinds: Ehrenreich''s late mother, and his young daughter--the latter''s heartrendingly concrete ''toddler priorities'' laying out the stakes here on earth."--Grace Krilanovich, author of Acid Green Velvet.