“Soul of Wood is a careening, delirious, madcap tour through the rattled soul of mid-20th century Europe. The book’s greatest achievement is the titular novella in which a disabled veteran fights for survival in the absurdist inferno of Austria under the Third Reich, where, finally, a handful of megalomaniacs compete to take possession of a sort of miraculous young Jew.” — Adam Walter, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA