praise for second hand
"If you’re a yard sale lover…Second Hand may feel like a gift from the (Tiki) gods." -THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"How can one capture the spirit of this wondrous book in so few words? Marvelous observations about secondhand items and life in general…readers will thoroughly enjoy this book and will be sorry when it ends." -LIBRARY JOURNAL
"An uncommon sweetness and charity toward the castoffs of the world animates this book, which is both funny and moving, especially as it moves toward its surprisingly beautiful ending. Michael Zadoorian has written a fine and wonderful novel about one of the most unusual of subjects: junk, and those who care for the valuable objects, living and dead, that others have thrown away." -Charles Baxter, author of The Feast of Love
"Incisively humorous and surprisingly poignant, this is a quirky, surprisingly tender coming-of-age tale."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Witty, charming, and genuinely moving: first-timer Zadoorian strikes just the right tone throughout—somewhere between cynicism and self-mockery." -KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Second Hand hooked me right away - Zadoorian is a stylist with his own sound. He's a very entertaining writer, hip and funny.
-Elmore Leonard, author of Pagan Babies
"A charming, comic novel." -MARIE CLAIRE
"All my life I have been searching for Satori Junk, the illuminated junk store of Second Hand. Michael Zadoorian speaks to the heart and soul of the junker, but when he writes ‘Junkers know that we don't have to want the things we're told to want, that it's important to love that which seems to have no worth,’ he speaks to all of us searching for worth in our lives." -Mary Randolph Carter, author of American Junk
"Zadoorian conveys the oft-overlooked beauty of cast-offs, be they vinyl records, photographs, mismatched dinette chairs, or even people." -Al Hoff, author of Thrift Score
"Second Hand is a lovely object … a sensitive, yearning, and romantic story." -AUSTIN CHRONICLE
"Wonderful…a novel about finding value in the most unlikely places." -TAMPA TRIBUNE TIMES
"Anyone who has found delight in a thrift store, captured glee in finding that perfect scarf or that retro chair, will equally delight at this novel." -BOOKLIST
"Astonishingly mandatory and compelling... frequent fascinating and insightful meditations on the nature of stuff." -SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
"A wonderful book." -Chris Jussel, host of Antiques Roadshow
“I started it at about 4 o’clock and just kept on going. I loved it.” -Lynda Barry, author of Cruddy
"How can one capture the spirit of this wondrous book in so few words? Marvelous observations about secondhand items and life in general…readers will thoroughly enjoy this book and will be sorry when it ends." -LIBRARY JOURNAL
"An uncommon sweetness and charity toward the castoffs of the world animates this book, which is both funny and moving, especially as it moves toward its surprisingly beautiful ending. Michael Zadoorian has written a fine and wonderful novel about one of the most unusual of subjects: junk, and those who care for the valuable objects, living and dead, that others have thrown away." -Charles Baxter, author of The Feast of Love
"Incisively humorous and surprisingly poignant, this is a quirky, surprisingly tender coming-of-age tale."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Witty, charming, and genuinely moving: first-timer Zadoorian strikes just the right tone throughout—somewhere between cynicism and self-mockery." -KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Second Hand hooked me right away - Zadoorian is a stylist with his own sound. He's a very entertaining writer, hip and funny.
-Elmore Leonard, author of Pagan Babies
"A charming, comic novel." -MARIE CLAIRE
"All my life I have been searching for Satori Junk, the illuminated junk store of Second Hand. Michael Zadoorian speaks to the heart and soul of the junker, but when he writes ‘Junkers know that we don't have to want the things we're told to want, that it's important to love that which seems to have no worth,’ he speaks to all of us searching for worth in our lives." -Mary Randolph Carter, author of American Junk
"Zadoorian conveys the oft-overlooked beauty of cast-offs, be they vinyl records, photographs, mismatched dinette chairs, or even people." -Al Hoff, author of Thrift Score
"Second Hand is a lovely object … a sensitive, yearning, and romantic story." -AUSTIN CHRONICLE
"Wonderful…a novel about finding value in the most unlikely places." -TAMPA TRIBUNE TIMES
"Anyone who has found delight in a thrift store, captured glee in finding that perfect scarf or that retro chair, will equally delight at this novel." -BOOKLIST
"Astonishingly mandatory and compelling... frequent fascinating and insightful meditations on the nature of stuff." -SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN
"A wonderful book." -Chris Jussel, host of Antiques Roadshow
“I started it at about 4 o’clock and just kept on going. I loved it.” -Lynda Barry, author of Cruddy
- Winner of the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award
- ABA BOOK SENSE 76 Selection
- Barnes & Noble DISCOVER Selection
- Borders Best of 2000 Fiction & Literature Selection