false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171602510m/109339.jpg 109339 2 The stories in Kevin Brockmeier's debut collection require, test, try, exhaust, and--just often enough--reward the reader's patience. In <I>Things That Fall from the Sky</I>, Brockmeier writes in painstaking prose that's long on exposition and short on action. Many of these stories concern children. In "These Hands," a thirtysomething man, possibly with Nabokovian intentions, baby-sits an 18-month-old girl. In the title story, a depressive librarian finds relief, and even guidance, in the company of her small granddaughter. And in "The House at the End of the World," 4-year-old Holly describes her isolated life in a shack in the woods with her father: "This was during the collapse of civilization, and I believed we were the only people in the world." Here Brockmeier's expository style pays off, as he describes in detail father and daughter setting traps, lighting lanterns, and tracking streams. It's a kind of end-of-days <I>Little House in the Big Woods</I>, except, of course, the father is crazy, and civilization has not collapsed. In the end, Holly's mother comes to take her away, and Brockmeier doesn't shy for a moment from Holly's pain as she is carried "from the house and the bed and the world which were mine." At his best, Brockmeier writes with excruciatingly thorough imagination. <I>--Claire Dederer</I> 105371 2002 Things that Fall from the Sky total:164|5:51|4:70|3:38|2:2|1:3| 164 656 281 28 4 2 false false Thu Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 05 09:18:38 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 05 09:18:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Feb 12 13:43:28 -0800 2008 Mon Jul 28 20:04:15 -0700 2008 A Brief History of the Dead and was absolutely blown away. It was a beautiful, haunting book. As a lover of the short story form, then, I couldn't wait to read this collection--but I was let down. There are a couple of really great stories, but, overall, neither the writ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Dec 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 21:27:45 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 21:27:41 -0800 2008 apples, a day in the life of half rumpelstiltskin, the ceiling, the jesus stories (which bore the fragrance of borges)and the house at the en...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 08 15:13:50 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 17 06:46:18 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jan 25 05:22:34 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 09 17:01:30 -0700 2009 Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead, but most of these stories didn't grab me the way that novel ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat May 31 12:36:48 -0700 2008 Sat May 31 12:36:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 28 16:31:17 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 03 13:27:33 -0800 2008
His strengths are in t...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Apr 27 11:12:54 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 11:14:44 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Nov 13 10:40:19 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 13 10:41:39 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Oct 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 28 18:28:35 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 27 19:36:49 -0700 2009
"Brown leaves shot with threads of red and yellow skittered across the park. They swept past merry-go-rounds and picnic tables, past heavy gray stones and rotunda bars. A man and his daughter tott...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Sep 23 18:25:02 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 16:36:13 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 18:25:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Jul 24 13:58:15 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 13:58:15 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 29 14:06:37 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 29 14:07:56 -0700 2007
Definitely worth reading.]]> 3 0 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri May 11 11:04:26 -0700 2007 Fri May 11 11:06:03 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Mar 26 18:09:06 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 29 06:35:32 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Tue Dec 18 22:32:59 -0800 2007 Fri Feb 27 12:08:45 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Feb 26 09:50:18 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 06 18:37:14 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 26 09:50:18 -0800 2009
So far, really liking it.]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sat Jan 12 00:55:59 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 12 00:58:09 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Tue Apr 01 18:31:04 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 06:26:46 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Mar 21 10:12:12 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 21 10:13:08 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=109339