"If the female vessel
were to choose the sperm of Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison and Bugs Bunny, what would be the product? Dr. Erec Smith gives you
Ross. A hominid with a penchant for controlled chaos. The journey taken is Andy Kauffman's wet dream."
Mike Rosario
Comcast Interactive Media
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“Creamy
Nougat, by Erec Smith, is a perfect read for 2008. Between our culture's obsession with 'political correctness' and being
in an unprecedented election year, where both a woman and an African American man are running for President, there is no better
time to revisit what it is we really think. Creamy Nougat plays with the age old adage 'you can't judge a book by
its cover' and challenges its readers to reflect on their own bigotry, no matter how innocuous they once thought it was. In
this brilliant, funny, and at times, outrageous debut novel --- the reader shares a journey with several well-developed characters
who are not always who they seem to be. It exposes the difference between people who try hard to rebel and those who simply
do. Creamy Nougat addresses typically touchy subjects such as race, religion, sexuality, and socio-economic relations
in a way that allows the reader to explore their own ideas without preaching. College age readers and on, will enjoy and take
something away from this novel. A definite must read."
Jennifer
Johnson
Main
Line Life Newspaper
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“Smiths' characters,
all tricksters on some level, attack the polite lies we live by in academic culture. With courage and honesty, Smith holds
a mirror up to that culture, but even more courageously, to himself as an author. What does it mean to seek the alternative,
the margins? What happens when we push the race, class, gender triad to its logical limits? Smith submerges us into an alternative
culture engendered by the progressive liberal arts and demonstrates that being in the margins is not an automatic antidote
for thoughtlessness.
The novel succeeds
at revealing its theoretical underpinnings while at the same time sustaining its page-turning unpredictability. The novel's
clarity interplays with its carnivalesque, comic, and surreal drive. The craziness is, of course, part of the author's trick
to end each thread of the story with lasting epiphanies."
Vainis
Alexa
Director,
University of Illinois-Chicago Writing Center
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“The battle to maintain
an authentic sense of self can be unrelenting, as cleverly demonstrated in Erec Smith's novel, Creamy Nougat. It
is a work that is both vivid and bold in giving the reader a look into a world where the psychology of identity, issues of
diversity and marginalization are lived out by characters certain to entertain the imagination, and enliven the spirit. Yet,
there remains an important message at the core of this work that is certain to trigger reflection and discussion, as Smith
unhesitatingly creates a reading experience that promotes a deep appreciation of the strength it takes to genuinely accept
others as well as ourselves."
George-Harold
Jennings
Associate
Professor of Pyschology / Affirmative Action Officer / Drew University
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“The
offbeat plot line of the novel occassionally gives rise to humor. The levity is designed to eliminate so-called 'diversity
fatigue,' a tendency for people to stop thinking about uncomfortable things because they are ubiquitous and complex. Smith
knows it is futile to ask people to rid themselves of prejudices. 'By nature,' he said, 'the human mind closes,
judges, marginalizes.' But his book leaves his readers with a potent thought: An open mind does not critique others.
It critiques itself.'
Lorraine
Ash
Daily Record (Gannett)
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