Paul Haines

Critical acclaim In praise of Haines' writing, Simon Petrie wrote "The danger of reading Haines’ stories in this vein is that the reader can come perilously close to accepting cannibalism, sexual sadism, or any of a myriad other vices as representing innately reasonable behaviour – because, in the context of Haines’ stories, this is very much the category such activity falls into. If iniquity needs a poster child (and I'm not sure, in this day and age, that it does), then the protagonist in stories such as “Slice of Life” will do just nicely, thank you."

R.J. Burgess wrote "Take a slab of Hunter S. Thompson, add some Philip K. Dick, and throw them into a blender for a while. Add a little dash of Brother's Grimm and a spoonful of American Psycho and what do you end up with? In all honesty, probably a great galumphing mess, but if anyone could come close to making such a bizarre union of styles and genres work then it's this man—Paul Haines—a young, up-and-coming author from down under."

Tim Lieder writes that Paul Haines parodied both Disney cartoons and desperate living stories, comparing him favorably to Hubert Selby Jr. and William Kennedy.

Death Paul Haines, 41, died on March 5, 2012, in Melbourne, Australia of cancer. He was survived by his wife and daughter.