From Galatea Resurrects:

"Despite the richness of his language, it stays pure and minimalist. Clarity is uncompromised as far as the narrative voice is concerned. As a quest into deciphering the remnants of material culture that both belong to our ancient and contemporary worlds, these meditations lie at the cross-roads of anthropology, philosophy, theology, art history, spirituality — and poetry." [full review]

Praise for volume 2 of Sobin's essays, Ladder of Shadows:

"The book enacts a lovely and compelling labor of making the past present, but also of making the present unfold itself and open itself to history: 'one is always in search of the kind of phenomena that might, potentially, confer sense upon one's own existence.' The book's purpose, one might say, is to unfold the phenomena brought to hand—to convert that 'potential.' Its triumph is that it largely confers sense upon the phenomena—an activity which, in turn, may turn out to be the activity that confers sense upon one's own existence."—Joshua Clover

"I feel as though I just walked across southern France from 27 B.C. to 1200 A.D. accompanied by a really smart, articulate, and avid local insider. Along the way Gustaf Sobin introduced me to monks, potters, stonemasons, architects, glass blowers, and farmers still using late Neolithic methods, wood cutters, and salt dryers. He evokes detailed and rounded lost worlds from some of the most paltry materials, such as the spray of droplets cast off by glass blowing. It is a masterpiece on several levels. Perhaps the reader should be warned not to open the book unless there are several days of free time available. It is almost impossible to put it down."—Dean MacCannell, author of The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class

Praise for volume 1 of Sobin's essays, Luminous Debris:

"What a wonder the narrative is, that a writer can express so much of history and detail in so few words. . . . Bravo! Encore, monsieur!"—Kathleen Cain, Bloomsbury Review

"With the sensual, lyrical, accretive methods of a gifted essayist, Sobin puts forward a radical agenda: to enter the conversation between past and present, to place ourselves within 'the dialectic between two orders of time.' After reading this book one feels more humble to be modern, but more proud to be human." —Hungry Mind Review, Winter 2000 issue

"A wonderful, addictive book. Gustaf Sobin's prose combines descriptive precision with evocative power, calling to mind the poetic-scholarly writing of Barthes or Bachelard. As he records and links the scattered fragments, some infinitesimal, of a regional past, Sobin offers wonder, regret, and often a sharp critique of contemporary society."--James Clifford, author of Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late 20th Century