“A magical, improbable book. Liska captures the strangeness of the past—and the strangeness of time passing—better than any living writer I know.”—Michael Clune, author of White Out: The Secret Life of Heroin and Pan 

“Alice, or The Wild Girl is on the one hand a good old-fashioned maritime adventure tale, and in another dimension, offers an equally entertaining tour of the world of mid-nineteenth century American vaudeville. Past that, the novel engages questions on the construction and representation of identity that are certainly shaped by a 21st century sensibility. All in all, a fascinating and rewarding work."—Madison Smartt Bell

“Alice, or The Wild Girl, tells the story I have always wanted to read. American explorers in the South Seas find an abandoned young girl on an island and take her aboard ship. Her presence reveals the character of the men who must decide her fate, and her own character is tested when she arrives in America and must find her way. Michael Robert Liska combines history and imagination beautifully in this well written, exciting book. Readers will be taken on a stimulating journey through the scenery and ideas of the 19th century.” — Alice Elliott Dark, author of Fellowship Point

“The stunning work of a bold new satirist. Great fun.”—Paul Vidich, author of Beirut Station and The Mercenary
 
“Spanning the globe from the South Pacific to the boards of the vaudeville stage, by turns absurd and haunting, Alice, or The Wild Girl is a testament to the futility of man's dominion over the earth—or, indeed, over ourselves. Like a ship on the surface of the ocean, Liska's novel skates lightly over its mysterious depths, and examines its existential questions with a delicate black humor.”—Celia Bell, author of The Disenchantment