"The weight of literary history would probably scare some authors away from writing a first novel about an African-American underdog who boxes his way out of the ghetto, but Murad Kalam is unafraid of the shadows cast by Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright. Invisible Man and Native Son provide the key for Kalam's music, and some of Toni Morrison's rhythms from Song of Solomon are echoed in Kalam's long, buttery sentences.... Night Journey is a kind of beautiful anachronism: a confident, poetic novel. It's as familiar as the nightly news but resonates like a dream."
— The New York Times Book Review

"Murad Kalam will be compared to Richard Wright and with good reason. Like Wright, Kalam explores with an extraordinarily moving directness neglected facets of African American life. He shows a sharp eye for the telling visual detail, a keen ear for arresting dialogue, and an uncanny ability to portray dramatic action in ways that make a reader keep reading. ''Night Journey" announces the presence of a major new figure in American letters."     
— Randall Kennedy, author of Nigger and Interracial Intimacies

"A remarkable first novel - gripping, moving, and original. Its vivid, impressionistic style and sheer authority... are completely compelling. You must read this book."
— Scott Turow

"Murad Kalam's ''Night Journey" is exciting and informative. The characters are real; their dreams and frustrations are some that we can all relate our experiences to."
— Laila Ali

"Kalam's writing, which has a fluid precision, intelligently addresses the plight of many young black men. Kalam subtly narrates the harrowing realities of many American black men at the end of the 20th century — their poverty, their pain, their determination to survive."
— Washington Post Book World

"an impressive debut... sharply observed... vividly rendered... "
— Kirkus

"Remains as compelling and unvarnished as Richard Wright's "Native Son"... Kalam's confrontational lyricism is deceptively simple and is reminiscent of Jamaica Kincaid. Kalam's writing is bare and clever, never cloying. Kalam defies conventions the way Ishmael Reed does, at times reinventing traditional representations of blackness. ''Night Journey" offers a refreshing yet timeless voice."
— San Francisco Chronicle

"[A] blistering coming-of-age debut ... convincingly rendered ... [has] a vivid flourescent glow."
— Publisher's Weekly