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Empire Falls

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 52,820 ratings · 2,578 reviews

With Empire Falls Richard Russo cements his reputation as one of America’s most compelling and compassionate storytellers.

Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter Tick, who needs all his help surviving the l...more

Paperback, 483 pages

Published April 12th 2002 by Vintage (first published January 1st 2001)

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Community Reviews

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Dec 22, 2011 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-kindle, 2011, reviewed

I’ve really fallen in love with the characters in this one.

To me, the most difficult thing to do in literature is develop a character. Character-driven novels are a gamble because if they are not handled correctly, they can crash and burn before they’ve taken off. Plot-driven novels are a safer bet, but then you’d miss out on an opportunity to really provoke your reader. I liked Empire Falls primarily because of how real Miles and Max and Mrs. Whiting, etc. felt to me.

This book encompasses what...more

23 likes · like · see review

Dec 04, 2012 Steve aka Sckenda rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Readers of Award-Winning Books; Those Needing Self-Esteem or to Escape from Serfdom

Recommended to Steve aka Sckenda by: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Shelves: 20th-century, new-england, fathers-and-daughters, pulitzer-prize, pulitzer-prize-author, mothers-and-sons, maine, failure, miniseries

“ The simple truth is not all of us become the men we once hoped we might be. ” --Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, 2003 (film).

Miles Roby did not grow up to become the man he once hoped he might be. How do you measure success? Accomplishments? Wealth? Distance? Kindness? Character? Once the brightest boy in his class, Miles flips burgers at his diner, The Empire Grill, which he leases from Mrs. Whiting, the town’s domineering heiress who runs the town like a fiefdom.

Though Miles...more

35 likes · like · see review

Jan 03, 2010 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Daniel by: Jennifer netherby

Shelves: 2009

This is one of those rare occasions when I wish GoodReads were to offer half-star ratings, because then I could give "Empire Falls" four and a half stars. It was almost a five-star novel in my estimation, but I had a few quibbles with it. It's nevertheless an excellent book, and one I don't feel much need to review at length; my friend Jennifer, who both recommended the book to me and lent me her copy, has already written a brilliant assessment. Her review is at http://www.goodreads.com/review/s ...more This is one of those rare occasions when I wish GoodReads were to offer half-star ratings, because then I could give "Empire Falls" four and a half stars. It was almost a five-star novel in my estimation, but I had a few quibbles with it. It's nevertheless an excellent book, and one I don't feel much need to review at length; my friend Jennifer, who both recommended the book to me and lent me her copy, has already written a brilliant assessment. Her review is at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

So what are my quibbles? They're not many, really, but I felt that, at times, Russo laid too much out for his readers. There is, for example, a scene in which David Roby details for his brother Miles the personality traits each sibling got from their father and which he received from their mother. It felt like something Russo should have allowed us, his readers, to figure out for ourselves. I wanted Russo to have more trust in his audience. Also, the book seemed to wrap up a bit too neatly; the lives Russo depicted were certainly messy, and they seemed to demand a less tidy conclusion.

Still, the book, overall, is a staggering achievement. Russo has an amazing eye for the human condition -- how the way our parents raise us often determines our directions us for the rest of our lives, even if we think we're smart enough to see those risks and do our damnedest to choose our own paths anyhow. (The novel feels, at times, like a book-length meditation on the poem "This Be The Verse," by Philip Larkin: "They fuck you up, your mum and dad. / The may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had / And add some extra, just for you.")

On a personal note, it was interesting to read Richard Russo's book at the same time I read George Eliot's "Middlemarch." Both, by depicting the lives of tightly knit communities -- the births, deaths love affairs, marriages, educations, careers and dreams both failed and accomplished of the members of those communities -- get at the bigger truths of all our lives. Both Eliot and Russo have a gift for the sardonic, and make us develop an affection for characters who, objectively speaking, we should not like. There's no way we should want to spend time with Russo's Max Roby, yet Russo is such a talented writer that we not only suffer him but develop as much begrudging affection for him as his sons Miles and David have.

I've already written more about "Empire Falls" than I intended to. Jennifer nailed it, and you should read her review instead. Then read the book.(less)

19 likes · like · see review

Mar 16, 2008 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everybody, but especially those with more than a passing acquaintance with small-town life

Shelves: fiction

This was a book my brother really enjoyed and recommended to me as recently as this summer. So it went on my list. :o)

My brother passed away on October 9, 2007. Today (well, since it's after midnight, technically, yesterday) is his birthday, so it seems fitting that I've finally gotten around to posting this review today.

When I finish a book, I find I kind of have to let things simmer in my brain a bit before I can really parse out all my reactions to it. I’m not sure why, but this one took me...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Angus rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: pulitzer-prize, reviewed-and-blogged

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

Intro

Every Friday, I check the queue of books to be featured in this blog. And so I did it 30 minutes ago. Next one is Empire Falls. Richard Russo. Hmm.

This book is around 500 pages, and I can’t recall a single thing! I started to panic so I decided to put some random music on to relax my nerves.

Music is really relaxing because I now remember the daughter of the protagonist. Her name is Tick. Her real name is Christine, or Christina, or something like that. And...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Rick rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Big novel about a little place in Maine. The town is in decline and the novel presents numerous characters and plots and overtells most of them, rather than let everyone speak for himself or circumstances to reveal meaning, the author piles on the evidence and looks in on character’s thinking without revealing their complexity. If scenes don’t repeat themselves, what they represent about the characters or fate of the town and its people do. Too much of the storytelling is pedestrian, though Russ...more

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Jun 09, 2008 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really, really like Russo. It's easy to plow through -- 480 pages gone in nothing flat, but the characters nonetheless come to life. For my sake, it doesn't hurt that his protagonists tend to be middling middle-aged nice-guys. But Russo is at his best when it comes to the oddball supporting cast -- the cantankerous Max Russo, the abrasive Minty clan, "batshit" Father Tom. I thought this book to be a step short of "Straight Man", but that's not putting it down much.

The wonder about this novel i...more

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Jun 06, 2008 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars

A small town in Maine. I could almost describe it from memory of my early years as a seasonal visitor there. The characters are so real, and we have a "silver fox" in our community, too. Teachers have to love the description of the art teacher's scene. The novel is wry and poignant, one of the best.

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 27, 2008 Johnny rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: light-novels

"Diverting one's attention from the past was not the same as envisioning and embarking upon a future." (p. 19) While this seems to be the theme of Empire Falls by Richard Russo, my biggest problem with this novel is that there doesn't seem to be any move toward the future in this novel. Everyone in the book seems to be so entangled in the misdeeds of their parents and grandparents, as well as their own, that they can't cut free and live that future.

Even when the hopes and dreams of the parents a...more

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Jul 01, 2008 Rasmus rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anybody.

I bought this book having only read on the back of it's cover and seeing that it had won the Pulitzer. I half-way expected to find it sligthly boring for that same reason, simpy because I tend to like books with a fair amount of action. And "Empire Falls" has very little action.

But man, this book is so well written, I had to stop and curse out loud several times, being a writer myself. Small, everyday situations become intensely interesting, as the web of relationships becomes apparent. It felt...more

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Feb 25, 2008 Caitlin rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book begins with a brilliant and unforgettable image but becomes increasingly less memorable as the book continues. Russo's style is pleasantly lulling and subtle--appropriate especially here for the description of the slow demise of a midland maine town. But the book goes on too long, and the ending is completely unsatisfying.

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Jan 30, 2009 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars

There is something about the town of Empire Falls. While vibrant and currentally afloat, the reader has the feeling in the back of their throat that this town is slowly dying. Its businesses are slowly folding, it's people stuck on the side of the river of life. Everything is just sitting, slowly building up and then deteriorating.
This inner feeling is one of many that make Empire Falls one of the most gripping and thrilling, yet undeniably relatable and realistic novels I have read ever. The...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Brianna rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book is overflowing with symbolism, and was very interesting to analyze. Power and control are a big motif, and the symbolism of the river is used throughout the book. The plot really picks up about three fourths of the way through, and I couldn’t put it down. The lives of the small town characters are filled with scandal, affairs, murders, and mysteries. There are a lot of characters to keep track of which can get a little confusing. I found it a little boring for the first half at least, b...more

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Nov 22, 2008 Bonnie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-books

An award winner, deservedly so. More depth than Nobody's fool, but Russo's humour still intact.

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 29, 2009 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Charming. Empire Falls is about the quirks and difficulties of small town life. The main character is Miles Roby, an intelligent but unsuccessful man stuck in the town of Empire Falls and its dreary life.

I think the two main strengths are its characters and its symbols. Some characters are quite funny, such as the dad, and some are sinister, but all are believable and interesting. I appreciated the role of every character.

Russo did a great job placing random as symbols. They really do add mean...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 08, 2013 Phil rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked it, but didn't *really really* like it, so 3 stars seems about right. It could be that small-town America is too foreign to my experience, so that the millieu, rather than seeming ridiculously true to life just seems ridiculous, or it might be that the book's faults eventually got too high to ignore.

Its positives are that the characters are well done - none perfect, none irredeemable, all pretty much believable. The dialogue was easy on the ear. The town was well-drawn and its atmosphere...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 08, 2012 Scott Axsom rated it 4 of 5 stars

In “Empire Falls”, Richard Russo conducts a wonderful character study of a half-dozen or so of the citizens of a small and dying Maine mill town but the main character in the story remains the river, both as geographical feature and as metaphor - as the inexorable flow of fate, as a boundary to be bridged, as the bringer of both life and death. Indeed, we learn that the river is a force of such indomitability, though one may be powerful enough to re-route it, one will never be powerful enough to...more In “Empire Falls”, Richard Russo conducts a wonderful character study of a half-dozen or so of the citizens of a small and dying Maine mill town but the main character in the story remains the river, both as geographical feature and as metaphor - as the inexorable flow of fate, as a boundary to be bridged, as the bringer of both life and death. Indeed, we learn that the river is a force of such indomitability, though one may be powerful enough to re-route it, one will never be powerful enough to escape its influence.

Russo’s style is always irreverent and occasionally lyrical but the themes he’s dealing with – forsaken dreams and the inexorability of power, among others – are serious. The study dwells mostly on the character of Miles Roby and his loves, both unrequited and failed. For all intents and purposes, Miles is at the mercy of the most powerful force in this tiny town, Francine Whiting, widow of the mill founder’s grandson. Mrs. Whiting’s cat, Timmy, represents the cat-plays-with-mouse relationship between Miles and his benefactress.

The characters are examined through a third person omniscient narrative and the views from inside their heads are at once touching and hilarious, clueless and cynical. Only one character, however, is ever handled in the present tense and that’s Miles’ daughter, “Tick”. Russo allows the reader into the life, but not so much the mind, of this teenager, beautifully embodying the lamented-by-parents-through-time-immemorial teen emotional withdrawal. But, in the grand tradition of unexpected sages, she gives voice to what is perhaps the operative question in the book; “Is there a term for that? Tick wonders. The thing everyone is searching for and hoping not to find?”

The poignant crux of Russo’s tale here is the search for happiness; I know it sounds cliché and over-explored, but what Russo’s saying about it in this novel is different from most. He’s exploring what is perhaps the truest (and saddest) aspect of most failed dreams; the fact that the dreamer secretly fears achieving his/her fondest hopes – like a dog chasing a car, most of us have no idea what we’d ever do, were we to catch our dreams. What would we live for then? This question permeates Russo’s study of the citizens of Empire Falls and his honest, if irreverent approach delivers some of the deepest insight into the human condition to be found in modern fiction. "Empire Falls" won't go into my "Favorites" list, as I guess I prefer a more reverential style, but the themes Russo explores and the precision with which he dissects them make his work here worthy, I think, of the Pulitzer it received.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Dec 26, 2008 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

If future archaeologists have nothing but novels written over the past 20 years or so to judge our society by, they will come to the following conclusions:
1. Nearly everyone used foul language (although perhaps the future archaeologists won't know that it was foul language).
2. Nearly everyone thought about sex most of the time.
3. Almost all adults were either divorced, in the process of getting a divorce, or remarried after having been divorced.
4. Young people spent a portion of their lives in a...more If future archaeologists have nothing but novels written over the past 20 years or so to judge our society by, they will come to the following conclusions:
1. Nearly everyone used foul language (although perhaps the future archaeologists won't know that it was foul language).
2. Nearly everyone thought about sex most of the time.
3. Almost all adults were either divorced, in the process of getting a divorce, or remarried after having been divorced.
4. Young people spent a portion of their lives in a horrible place called "high school," where all but a tiny elite were ostracized and mocked. (Was every author an outcast in high school?)
All of the above applies to Richard Russo's "Empire Falls." It also covers most of what I didn't like about the book.
This left a lot to like. Russo offers a compelling narrative that is -- cliche alert -- hard to put down. He presents interesting characters, although perhaps they lack in depth. It's easy to tell who you're supposed to like and who you're not supposed to like.
You're supposed to like the central character, Miles Roby, who runs the Empire Grill in Empire Falls, a town in Maine that appears to be in an irreversible decline.
One of the central story lines involves Miles and his teenage daughter Christina, aka Tick. This relationship was the most attractive part of the book for me. I wanted to be a dad for a very long time, and I always pictured myself as the father of a daughter. So I tend to vicariously experience this relationship through nauseatingly sentimental movies such as "Father of the Bride" and "My Girl" and even in recent episodes of the "Funky Winkerbean" comic strip.
Miles is sort of like the dad I picture myself to be, and Tick is sort of like the daughter I imagine. I like how Miles and Tick find "unintentional humor in the form of gaffes in the Empire Gazette, misspellings in advertisements for local stores, lapses in logic on printed signs like the one on the brick wall that surrounded the old empty shirt factory: NO TRESPASSING WITHOUT PERMISSION."
Russo writes some fine sentences, none better than the one at the beginning of Chapter 5, when we learn almost everything there is to know about Miles' father, Max:
"The donut shop in Empire Falls had always been one of Max Roby's favorite places because of its smoking policy, which was, 'Go ahead. See if we care.'"
Although "Empire Falls" is an easy read, Russo writes a few sentences that leave me saying: How's that again? For example:
"What Tick's coming to realize is that in some ways Zack's never been interested in her either, though not, she suspects, in the same way he's not interested in Candace."
But maybe that's not such a bad sentence. Perhaps it reflects the way a teenage girl thinks. I wouldn't know.
(less)

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Jul 20, 2008 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was a little disappointed with this book, even though I think the prose is quite often excellent. Russo manages a large number of characters with distinct personalities and perspectives on the main narrative, and that's pretty impressive. My general reason for thinking this book falls a little flat is Russo's apparent unwillingness to make a couple of hard choices with his characters or to keep his mouth shut when silence is better than filling in the gaps in the story. I've always felt that m...more I was a little disappointed with this book, even though I think the prose is quite often excellent. Russo manages a large number of characters with distinct personalities and perspectives on the main narrative, and that's pretty impressive. My general reason for thinking this book falls a little flat is Russo's apparent unwillingness to make a couple of hard choices with his characters or to keep his mouth shut when silence is better than filling in the gaps in the story. I've always felt that movies which end with the little paragraphs telling you what happened to all the charaters afterward suffer from clumsy story-telling. A well composed narrative doesn't need to explain "what happened next" and can survive (or even thrive) on the negative spaces--the suggestive gaps in information. Russo can't help himself and tells us "what happened" even when we'd probably be better off guessing. I have a couple of specific things to say below, but I wanted to give a "spoiler" warning here, in case you haven't read it and don't want to find out details.

There are some stand-out moments, for example an exceptionally well executed chapter where he drifts in and out of the head of a gay priest as he comes to realize that the senile older priest he cares for has taken the parish car to Key West. The chapter winds lazily from this turning point in the story, to the priest's brush with homosexuality, to his feelings about it, his self-deception about it. Meanwhile he struggles with writing a sermon and gives readers a kind of third-party perspective on the main story line involving an affair between two long-dead characters. Very well done.

But ultimately, the ending is disappointing to me. It was clear to me that Miles' daughter should have died. Miles misery was the price that he was paying for his mother's infidelity. This is already an unfair arrangement, which would have been thoroughly underscored by his loss of the thing he cared about most. But more importantly, his daughter was the largest piece of leverage that Ms. Whiting had over Miles, so losing Tick would, in a very sad but clear way, free him from Whiting's control. Russo is unwilling to kill Tick off and saves her in a less-than-believable way.

Another example of Russo's lack of restraint is the "Epilogue" which unncecessarily explains the remaining mysterious parts of the story. There's even a tacky heading half way through it: "So What Prevented Him?" Totally disappointing. The book would have been better for leaving us guessing about the reasoning behind C.B.'s suicide, which pretty obviously had to do with Grace Roby even without Russo's rib-elbowing. I don't think that the "Epilogue" was the result of lack of respect for readers' competence--though I could imagine some patronizing editor at Vintage saying "you can't just let the story end *there* why did C.B. kill himself?" I think it comes more from Russo's own lack of self-control as a writer.

Bottom line: definitely a fine piece of prose writing, but I can't get over the feeling of being force-fed the narrative. (less)

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Feb 04, 2009 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

What I found to be really remarkable about this book is its ending, not because it's so action-packed (especially in comparison to the rest of the book) but because the reader's sense of foreboding builds so subtly throughout the book until one can figure out which character it will be to cause the inevitable catastrophe.

Actually, this entire book could be a study in subtlety, because the nuances in each character are so lightly illustrated as to catch the unsuspecting reader off-guard. This is...more What I found to be really remarkable about this book is its ending, not because it's so action-packed (especially in comparison to the rest of the book) but because the reader's sense of foreboding builds so subtly throughout the book until one can figure out which character it will be to cause the inevitable catastrophe.

Actually, this entire book could be a study in subtlety, because the nuances in each character are so lightly illustrated as to catch the unsuspecting reader off-guard. This is mainly due to the slowness of the dawnings of each revelation to the novel's main character, Miles Roby; in fact, even readers who typically skim (and this is a pretty big novel, so skimming for some is inevitable) can pick up subtle hints that show, for instance, who Charlie Mayne really is and who is Charlene's lover. Luckily, Miles eventually figures this out (at the very end of the book, of course)and more, so one can't be completely frustrated by his seemingly selective understanding of the things going on around him.

Also, very few loose ends are left at novel's end, which is what I prefer when I read a stand-alone book. I'm curious to find out if Miles really did ever inherit the Empire Grill, but in the end it doesn't really matter. I also wish I knew if Tick ever had contact again with her summer love interest since her scheduled rendezvous obviously couldn't be kept. We do find out who was responsible for Cindy Whiting's accident as well as exactly what was wrong with John Voss and why he acted so strangely all the time. (His story is the most tragic, on several levels, and incredibly disturbing, so we had to know that his disappearance wouldn't last, leaving the reader unresolved over his fate; I knew there had to be a reason why I kept thinking of Pearl Jam's song "Jeremy" every time he was mentioned.)

The book ends rather abruptly, though, and perhaps too happily (if that's the right word to use to describe the ending). I mean, for the sake of the book innocents had to be taken to show the randomness of some violence (amid the deliberate planning that was used), but it's almost too tidy that Tick gets out alive. The Catholic dependency also is dropped maybe too quickly, considering how tightly Miles holds on to that during the first three parts of the novel, but I suppose that's not necessarily all that important a thread to hold on to. Also, the shifting perspective throughout the novel is absolutely essential so that the reader can pick up (more quickly than Miles can, at least) what's going on with other characters' motivations (although probably the best character-building moment comes from Cindy Whiting in her last face-to-face interaction with Miles, which shows just how tightly readers hold on to Miles's perspective, which isn't necessarily always the right one), but near the end we're so far removed from Miles that getting back inside his head seems forced, as a way to simply bring the novel to its conclusion.

Still, this is an amazing book overall simply because of the way it so accurately portrays the positives and negatives of small-town life. It doesn't have to be talking about a Maine city specifically to ring true to those who've experienced such an environment where everyone knows everyone else as a rule because that's just how it is. It picks up intensity as the end looms near (and one can't help but wonder exactly where the book is going or how it's ever going to make it there) and becomes less and less easy to put down.(less)

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Sep 09, 2007 marg rated it 5 of 5 stars

Where has this book been all my life?? Ok, Khay, I know you and Yitzchak have raved about it but somehow each time I tried it I couldn't get into it, and finally last week I gave it one last shot and was totally hooked. It reminds me of a higher quality Maeve Binchy in Russo's ablity to draw such colorful, consistant characters who get a rise out of you and all that small town flavor. This was EXACTLY what I needed when I was looking for something light but gripping (ie, NOT The Manny) - well, i...more

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Jun 16, 2007 Brendan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Filled with equal parts heartache and belly laughs, the book’s home is the fictional ex-mill town of Empire Falls, Maine, and its centerpiece is a high school football game, which Russo’s hapless hero Miles Roby reluctantly attends with his friend Cindy Whiting. (Why reluctantly? It’s the proverbial long story, having to do with the fact that Miles, who runs the Empire Grill, is in the throes of a divorce—his wife Janine having fooled around with the health club guy and then confessed it to a se...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Zach rated it 5 of 5 stars

My book of the year, at first, this story promised to be a loving read about a father and daughter, but it ended up turning into much more than that. The novels depths, reaches into your heart and allows you to really appreciate relationships between people. The best and worst of people is brought out in this book, it allows you to understand how people react when put into difficult situations and circumstances. It is amazing the Russo can fit the great amount of story into such a short novel.

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Mar 29, 2011 Ian Pardo rated it 5 of 5 stars

As I put down EMPIRE FALLS after its last page, it suddenly dawned on me: "I have to read another book now, don't I." From the first page, I fell in love with the wonderful but flawed characters of Richard Russo's Pulitzer Prize-winner, and leaving the town of Empire Falls, Maine hit me with the force of parting with a dear friend.

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Jun 05, 2008 Nate rated it 4 of 5 stars

5 stars all the way until the ending. I get the point he is making (Miles needs a shattering event to knock him out of his rut of a life), but this was over the top and unnecessary. Anyway, the book as a whole is a great portrayl of the bottom half of middle America (New England), and how people in this slice of life have often given up on their big dreams but still find little avenues of wishful thinking to keep them shuffling from day to day. The characters don't necessarily become your friend...more

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Jul 20, 2008 Bethany rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 31, 2008 Brad rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Keep in mind that it's been a while since I read this, but...

This book read like Die Hard: The Morality Play.

Not one character had a believable motivation, so when a vignette had run its course, Russo had nothing left to do but to jump ahead in time a little bit and let the next vignette recount the dramatic change that occurred in the gap between.

Kinda like John McClaine looking past his bare feet at a hall filled with shattered glass... cut to the next scene and he's pulling glass out of his f...more

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Jun 24, 2008 Al rated it 5 of 5 stars

Perhaps the best part of the book is the Prologue wherein the family fortunes of the Whitings are described as recurrent and hilariously tragic. The meek Miles, son of the outrageous Max, has lost his wife when the chapters proper begin--lost her to the local fitness center operator whose knowing his way around her clitorus together burst her grudging fidelity. A great saga of a dying industrial town in Maine, but its small town dynamics could be shared by any small town dying or otherwise chall...more

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Mar 17, 2008 علی rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

Russo is famous as the king of small towns(US), this is one of his best ..
ریچارد روسو برنده ی پولیتزر بخاطر همین رمان بلند که وصفی ست از یک شهر کوچک و صنعتی در ایالت مین و کارخانه ی نساجی تعطیل شده اش، و قهرمانی به نام مایلز روبی که بسیار زیبا و به دقت تصویر شده است. مردی که آرزوی نویسنده شدن را به خاطر مادرش که دوست داشت تحصیل کند، کنار گذاشت و حالا پس از تحصیل و رسیدن به موفقیت، مادرش سال هاست مرده و نیست تا آنچه آرزو می کرد را، ببیند.
کتابی که به سختی می شود برای خوردن شام، یا درست کردن قهوه،...more

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Feb 21, 2010 Moira Burke added it

"A thoughtfully-written Pulitzer winner with excellent character development. Spanning several decades in a declining mining town, the novel artfully reveals cause and effect, often unexpectedly. The all-italics 'flashback' chapters are a little annoying, but only from a typography standpoint; the plot and style shine throughout. Two of my favorite passages:

He'd planned on applying to the Maine Police Academy, and it wouldn't look good on his application if he'd gone and killed some girl at a f

...more

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About Richard Russo

Richard Russo (born July 15, 1949) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist. Born in Johnstown, New York, and raised in nearby Gloversville, he earned a B.A. (1967), a M.F.A. (1980), and a Ph.D. (1979) from the University of Arizona.

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Trivia About Empire Falls

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Quotes from Empire Falls

“And there comes a time in your life when you realize that if you don't take the opportunity to be happy, you may never get another chance again.” — 89 people liked it

“What if all everybody needed in the world was to be sure of one friend? What if you were the one, and you refused to say those simple words?” — 56 people liked it

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Empire Falls

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