“[A] work of glittering brilliance . . . Highly recommended.” VANCOUVER SUN
“With the same exacting precision Charlie uses to make his paper birds, Friesen has sensitively created a visceral, affecting narrative, folding in just the right amounts of compassion, elegance, horror, and wonder. The voices inside Universal Disorder will echo in your head long after turning the last page.” ASHLEY LITTLE author of Niagara Motel and Anatomy of a Girl Gang
“How does a child born into poverty and abuse gain an adulthood worth living? For young Charlie—mentally disordered, gifted, sustained by a hidden intellect—the path leads from hardscrabble prairie to 1990s Montreal Goth culture, finally to blossoming love and particle physics. Bernice Friesen’s captivating second novel is equal parts heart-stirring and mind-bending, perfectly balancing the intimate with the cosmic.” JIM BARTLEY author of Drina Bridge and Makarska