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5.0 out of 5 stars
A true winner, Sep 18 2008
This is a great book, if you like sitting with a grandfather or great oncle and hearing stories about your home town when you were a kid and realize how things were instead of how you saw them as a kid, you will love this book. For me, I felt like Russo came to my home town and took his characters from my family, my neighbords etc. Being from a small town 10km north of the Maine border, I was amaze at how a connected with Miles and was able to know Max, his father, so well.
There isn't much to say because the Pulizter Price seal is on it, which mean it's must read.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll Enjoy This Book!, July 28 2005
Empire Falls only shored up my convictions that parenthood is an enterprise fraught with peril. Miles Roby, a resident of the titular Eastern town, is trying to preserve his relationship with his daughter, Tick, while he's going through a difficult divorce. Tick is mostly sympathetic to Miles, because she sees her mother, Janine, as the villain (Janine subtly announces her desire for a divorce by taking an obnoxious lover, the "Silver Fox"); since Janine has custody, Tick spends as much time as possible helping out her dad at the Empire Grill. Miles manages the Grill for Francine Whiting, the rich widow of local textile magnate C.B. Whiting, with the understanding that he will inherit the diner upon Mrs. Whiting's death. Sadly, Miles has been managing the place for twenty years now, ever since he dropped out of college to care for his terminally ill mother, and the old bag (Francine, that is) shows no signs of slowing down. All Miles wants is for Tick to grow up happy and to do better than he did, since every passing year brings the point home more painfully that Miles failed his own mother by dropping out and allowing Empire Falls to suck him back in for life. Miles' father, Max, is a classic deadbeat dad, and the cause of much unhappiness for Miles' mother; now in his seventies, Max aspires to nothing more than putting the squeeze on Miles for petty cash, and getting others to buy Max drinks. Falls closely and relentlessly (but not heartlessly) explores some of the many, many ways there are to fail as a child, a parent, and a human being, by following the generations of Robys and Whitings, and their intertwined histories, in Empire Falls.Russo's new novel represents something of a departure in tone. His previous books generally feature lovable screw-ups as protagonists: hard-luck wiseacres who accept quirks of fate with unnaturally good humor, and their occasional windfalls with bafflement. Max Roby seems to be the closest thing to a conventional Russoian (Russian?) protagonist, but he is relegated to a supporting role, and his main contribution to the book is as comic relief. Even-tempered, endlessly patient Miles earns many a sneer from his more footloose associates for having allowed his life to stagnate behind a diner's counter, and generally seems to take things far more to heart than any of the author's previous protagonists. In addition, Russo usually lends his plots a light-hearted, comic touch through his devil-may-care characters; be prepared for Falls' abrupt and scary turn toward the darker side of human failure, which jars the reader abruptly after the fun and frolicsome first half of the novel. It's nice to see that Russo is finally permitting his characters to take things seriously, although the results are a little jerky and oddly paced this time around. Nevertheless, the writing is as consistently funny and polished as any of Russo's previous books, and, if you can stomach the ending (I wasn't talking about the dangers of raising kids for no reason, you know), there's much to enjoy in Empire Falls. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Russo, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll Enjoy This Book!, July 13 2005
Empire Falls only shored up my convictions that parenthood is an enterprise fraught with peril. Miles Roby, a resident of the titular Eastern town, is trying to preserve his relationship with his daughter, Tick, while he's going through a difficult divorce. Tick is mostly sympathetic to Miles, because she sees her mother, Janine, as the villain (Janine subtly announces her desire for a divorce by taking an obnoxious lover, the "Silver Fox"); since Janine has custody, Tick spends as much time as possible helping out her dad at the Empire Grill. Miles manages the Grill for Francine Whiting, the rich widow of local textile magnate C.B. Whiting, with the understanding that he will inherit the diner upon Mrs. Whiting's death. Sadly, Miles has been managing the place for twenty years now, ever since he dropped out of college to care for his terminally ill mother, and the old bag (Francine, that is) shows no signs of slowing down. All Miles wants is for Tick to grow up happy and to do better than he did, since every passing year brings the point home more painfully that Miles failed his own mother by dropping out and allowing Empire Falls to suck him back in for life. Miles' father, Max, is a classic deadbeat dad, and the cause of much unhappiness for Miles' mother; now in his seventies, Max aspires to nothing more than putting the squeeze on Miles for petty cash, and getting others to buy Max drinks. Falls closely and relentlessly (but not heartlessly) explores some of the many, many ways there are to fail as a child, a parent, and a human being, by following the generations of Robys and Whitings, and their intertwined histories, in Empire Falls.Russo's new novel represents something of a departure in tone. His previous books generally feature lovable screw-ups as protagonists: hard-luck wiseacres who accept quirks of fate with unnaturally good humor, and their occasional windfalls with bafflement. Max Roby seems to be the closest thing to a conventional Russoian (Russian?) protagonist, but he is relegated to a supporting role, and his main contribution to the book is as comic relief. Even-tempered, endlessly patient Miles earns many a sneer from his more footloose associates for having allowed his life to stagnate behind a diner's counter, and generally seems to take things far more to heart than any of the author's previous protagonists. In addition, Russo usually lends his plots a light-hearted, comic touch through his devil-may-care characters; be prepared for Falls' abrupt and scary turn toward the darker side of human failure, which jars the reader abruptly after the fun and frolicsome first half of the novel. It's nice to see that Russo is finally permitting his characters to take things seriously, although the results are a little jerky and oddly paced this time around. Nevertheless, the writing is as consistently funny and polished as any of Russo's previous books, and, if you can stomach the ending (I wasn't talking about the dangers of raising kids for no reason, you know), there's much to enjoy in Empire Falls. Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Russo, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
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