“Renfro is a master of what we’ve come to call the lyric essay: nonfiction pieces that find their voice in the borderland between prose and poetry.”—Los Angeles Review of Books
“Like a root system of a wooded hillside, Renfro’s essays are elegantly woven meditations on cultural identity, natural history, coming of age, and death. . . . Here is a memoir that trades self-scrutiny for a broader examination of nature and culture, a lyric voice and perspective that increases our compassion for the world.”—Orion
“Renfro’s essays are profoundly moving, written in a rich, deeply felt voice touched with wistfulness and melancholy that resists sentimentality and is unafraid of the violence that is a significant characteristic of both life and death.”—Colorado Review
“Renfro isn’t afraid to take risks; Xylotheque has an essay for even the most discerning readers.”—American Microreviews and Interviews
“Xylotheque will demand your careful attention. But it will repay your time and energy many-fold. It is a book you won’t quickly forget.”—Story Circle Book Reviews
“Exquisite essays. . . . Five stars!”—Enchantment