Sydney Lea writes, "Carol Westberg's Slipstream is that true rarity among first books: there is no over-determined lyricism, no look-ma-no-hands, in short, no wetness behind the ears. The author's world, like all of ours, is rife with uncertainty; the complexities of love, romantic and familial; the agony of aging parents and sometimes refractory children; the difficulty sometimes of merely showing up. And yet, Westberg uncannily provides us with a navigational map: her keen eye, big heart, and sure ear offer a sort of assurance to her reader. We may all be mere hounds baying at the moon much of the time, but when we can muster the sort of insight and valor betokened by Slipstream, which of us will deny that life is a fine thing altogether?"