Another Way to Fall: Two Short Novels

by Brian Evenson, Paul Tremblay

As the turbulent Sixties draw to a close, NYC police raid the headquarters of Push Comes to Shove—a group of activists, dreamers, and lovers based in a gritty tenement in Lower Manhattan—and kill Walter Armstead with a shotgun blast to the face. Was he an innocent victim of brutal times? Police collaborator? Or both? His death triggers a series of violent reprisals from extremists in the group, from a subway bombing to kidnappings to a showdown in the Black Hills of South Dakota.With this wild, resonant novel, Brown vividly captures the hopes and delusions of Vietnam-era America. “A brilliant, eye-opening novel.”– More Magazine“Push Come to Shove brings us back to a time when the stakes were high, the world was dangerous, and everything mattered—perhaps too much.”– Mary Gordon “Propels its readers into the politically and culturally turbulent world of the American 1960s and ‘70s.”– Washington Post “Opens a door to the world of the black liberation movement at a critical moment in American history.” – Chronogram “There is a gaping hole in fiction about the 60’s, which focuses almost exclusively on the white New Left. Brown has filled it admirably with his thoughtful, gripping novel about the black liberation movement.”– Peter BiskindWesley Brown is an acclaimed novelist, playwright, and teacher. He worked with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1965 and became a member of the Black Panther Party in 1968. In 1972, he was sentenced to three years in prison for refusing induction into the armed services and spent 18 months in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. For 27 years, Brown was a much-revered Professor at Rutgers University, where he inspired hundreds of students, including novelist Junot Diaz. He currently teaches literature at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and lives in Chatham, New York.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Brian Evenson is an American academic and writer of both literary fiction and popular fiction, some of the latter being published under B. K. Evenson.

Reviews

[Paul]

You can email the publisher and request a copy for free (yes, free!).

More info: http://www.concordfreepress.com/anoth...

https://thelittlesleep.wordpress.com/...

[Janie · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two outstanding stories are different in style and content, but they each share the very powerful attraction of both dreamlike surreality and the crushing dread of corporeality. A point of focus is the comparison of the concepts of choice and chance. Both authors are at the top of their game in creating mesmerizing predicaments that tantalize and deeply affect the reader. Highest recommendations.

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concord Free Press is doing good work. Request a copy of this book and they request that you donate any amount of your choosing to any charity, or pass your copy on to someone else, in return. What better way to give back to the community!?!

Another Way to Fall is a collection of two short novels by literary giants Brian Evenson and Paul Tremblay. True to their individual styles, both stories are creepy and highly unsettling. Whenever I read literature of this calibre, it always creates an unsatiable hunger to read more from the author(s). Good thing I still have a couple of Evenson and Tremblay's other novels lying around unread!!

[Rodney · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have yet to check out Concord Free Press and their unique approach to publishing, I urge you to do so. Within Another Way to Fall lies two short but wicked novels that compliment each other well. Brian Evenson had my head reeling with the illusive Baby Leg, a dreamy sort of horror tale that purveys an unsettling atmosphere in spades. Paul Tremblay’s The Harlequin and the Train is more straightforward in style, but unfolds in layers with an ending that will stay with you for some time. Both were masterfully done. High recommendations.

[Mindi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a Paul Tremblay fan, and I had never heard of Concord Free Press until some fellow Tremblay fans started posting this book on Instagram. Here's how it works: You request a book from their website, and they send it to you completely free and postage paid. Once you receive the book you make a voluntary donation and list how you chose to donate on their website. Every book is numbered, so they are able to track who donates for each book. Once you read it, you sign your name in the back and then pass the book on to someone else. It's a fantastic experiment in publishing, and I highly recommend you check out their website!

Another Way to Fall is a collaboration between Brian Evenson and Paul Tremblay. Both of the books in this novel were released in limited quantities previously, and are super hard to find, at least at an affordable price. So Evenson and Tremblay are making it easier for fans to read these titles through Concord Free Press.

The book starts with Evenson's short novel Baby Leg. I have to admit that I have never read Brian Evenson before, so I went into this novel knowing nothing about his writing style. After reading Baby Leg I learned that amputations are sort of an ongoing theme with Evenson, so the protagonist inexplicably missing a hand, as well as two characters missing legs, (one of which is the eponymous Baby Leg, who has a literal baby leg where one of her normal legs should be) is par for the course.

The protagonist, Kraus, wakes up in cabin with a missing hand, a gash on his forehead, and no idea who he is or what has happened to him. He spends the rest of the novel in a fugue state, and the reader is unable to tell what's real and what is a part of his dreams. Every night he dreams of a woman with one normal leg and one baby leg, lurching around with an axe. The rest of the novel is a series of bizarre and unexplained occurrences that have something to do with a man in a lab, a couple who are searching for Kraus, and Baby Leg, who tries to keep him from being found. The lines between dreams and reality are totally blurred, and the reader is left with no clues as to what is real and what exists only in Kraus's mind.

The second novel, The Harlequin & the Train by Tremblay starts out as a more straightforward horror novel, but soon becomes a reflection on choice versus chance, with cannibals. I researched this novella online, and apparently the small run of it's initial publication was interactive, and included Tremblay's instructions for highlighting certain parts of the novel with a yellow highlighter. (The color yellow is mentioned numerous time in the book.) I'm sorta bummed that I didn't have that interactive experience because I think it would have made this story more enlightening. (That's a terrible and totally unplanned pun.) So, I dug a little deeper and found a copy of the original novella for sale. I feel like I missed some important things in my first reading of this book, so I'm going to read it again once I receive the interactive copy. I've been thinking about the story a lot today, and the more I do, the more I'm convinced I need to read it again.

I'm really thankful that I discovered the Concord Free Press and was able to experience these two novellas that I'm sure I would not have discovered otherwise. I encourage you all to visit their website and give to a worthy cause in the name of books.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two mind-benders. The first one, by Brian Evenson, was surreal and circular and hallucinatory and claustrophobic; it reminded me, at different times and in various ways, of Mulholland Drive, The Unconsoled, The Raw Shark Texts, and Stephen King's Gunslinger series. The second one was disturbing and sad and more than a little stomach-turning. I'm still trying to figure out what the author was trying to say; something about how your only choice in life is to be a victim or create victims?

[kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

first, the publishing concept is phenomenal. a free book in exchange for the agreement to donate to any charity, in whatever way you choose, and to pass it along to someone else after reading.

both pieces are...just excellent. each writer exhibits deft use of uncommon language patterns and structure, adding immeasurably to the work. 'baby legs' is brutal in a soft, dreamlike way. the violence and unsettlement are suspended in a state of dissociation, which left me questioning the story in an oddly pleasant fugue. 'the harlequin and the train' seems more straightforward, at first. it's certainly more aggressively presented. but at several points in the story, i realized there was a lot more going on than i'd previously noticed. the ending was a twist of the knife that left me reeling.

weird, unsettling, uncomfortable, and beautifully horrific.

[Karen Heuler · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two novellas gave me the creeps. The relentlessness of Evenson's world, the repetition with slight variations, the hope that going forward will be going towards understanding and relief--marvelous. And Tremblay's train engineer, who meets up with a secret society of crash cannibals (you'd understand it if you read it) and a horrifying sub world of chance, is unforgettable.

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea behind this press/ book is super cool. The book is free, you just have to take the time to request a copy. Each one is numbered, my copy is 236, the idea is instead of paying for the book you make a equal donation to a charity and then pass the book on. As a huge believer in the book-a-shpere I love everything about it. So in this review you'll get a short take of the novels and a little piece about the non-profit that I donated to.

So this book has two short novels including Evenson’s Baby Leg and Tremblay’s The Harlequin and the Train. I am a fan of both but Evenson is one of of my top ten authors so I was a little more motivated to get into his piece. Both short novels are super weird and surreal horror. There is no doubt you are getting more than you paid for because both authors are super talented and two of the best writers working in genre fiction today.

Brian Evenson writes with very odd structure and some of the most inventive prose I have ever read. Baby Leg is a fantastic work of paranoia that is very dreamlike. The plot is hard to describe but becomes more nightmarish as it goes. A man named Kraus wakes up in a cabin missing a hand and is unsure who he is. He is tortured the image of the woman with a baby leg, and if that was not disturbing enough we have just started. The short novel builds on the creepy dread of the man starving but unwilling to get food, all of this was gut wrenching in delivery. There is a great moment when Kraus goes to a shop to and gets identified.

This short novel has more moments of terror and surreal paranoia than many Philip K. Dick novels. Another great example of Evenson at his best. Weird and genius.

Tremblay's novel The Harlequin and the Train appears on the surface to be a more straight forward story of cause and effect. Starting with a train wreck and featuring the conductor I was under the impression we were heading toward a Crash style story. The movie not the amazing JG Ballard novel. This piece is about chance, choice and destiny with some gruesome more hardcore elements that come into play.

I felt a little lost at times. I was OK with this because Tremblay's writing is engaging and he is skilled. I certainly felt like some things were going over my head. As weird as Baby Leg was I was with it from start to finish. I admit I was ready to be done with the second novel probably 20 pages before it ended.

That said I think the publishing concept is great and looking at the board members I hope this series continues.

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[Electric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two weird, dreamlike, hard to find novellas in one book. Evensons Baby Leg plays on a lot of the same topics I already encountered in Last Days and Immobility but the later is still my favorite Evenson story because all the dreamlike paranoia leads to some sort of conclusion. Baby Leg does not, but leaves me thinking about some of the concepts: those amputated limbs that still work will stay with me for some time. The Tremblay novella has the emotional punch that I love about him, a little Ligotti vibe and a very metaphysical turn of events towards the end that did not really work for me. Choices, Fate, Chance, being a victim, victimizing others - plus cannibals. Both stories would warrant a re-reading to dissect what those two in some ways exceptional writers were trying to convey.

[Jack Haringa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surreal, violent, strange, unsettling. Two novellas by two expert writers who frequently and successfully subvert both genre and narrative expectations here, in one volume. Concord Free Press offers more work that should reach a wider audience. Lets hope it does.

[Booked podcast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hear the full review: http://www.bookedpodcast.com/?p=5633

[Aria · Rating 4 out of 5]

After steadily getting more into the Evenson thing, I requested a copy of this book. The whole concept of the Concord Free Press is awesome and the only thing that I'm bummed about it is that I will have to pass this book on, but rules is rules.

"Baby Leg" is a solid dive into the Evenson world, as he takes solid linear reality and puts it in blender. The story does not give the reader a sense of clear resolution, or really a very clear idea of anything. It relies less on a traditional plot format than on unsettling imagery (a woman with one leg that is baby sized and is yielding an axe for crissake) combined with an unravelling of identity. Having read a decent amount of his previous work this felt a little too familiar to get under my skin, but this short novel provides a good introduction to a lot of his recurring themes and was overall worthwhile.

I've never read any Paul Tremblay before this novel and now I'm sold. "The Harlequin & The Train" is an excellent and engaging read. It utilizes many of the common elements of horror fiction in a way that was fresh and unique. I would consider it in some ways to be "descent into madness" type of story that succeeds with its excellent pacing.

These authors each have a very different styles, and different strengths that complement each other well in this little collection. Tremblay lets reality melt away and Evenson just throws it out the window.

Do yourself a favor, pick this up and get in on the very cool work the Concord Free Press does.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the concept of Concord Free Press, and I make an effort to request every book they publish so I can participate in their experiment in charitable giving. Of course this means that I often receive books that stray far from the types of books I normally seek out for myself. This is one of those books. While not terrifying in the way that much modern horror writing can be, the two stories included in this book are distinctly creepy and unsettling, and can certainly be considered horror stories, which isn't a genre that I typically enjoy reading.

I found these stories to be disturbing and neither provides what I would consider a satisfactory resolution. They are well written, and they provide vivid imagery and a strong sense of place. So while I can't honestly say that I enjoyed these stories because of their unsettling nature, I must admit that I appreciated that they are well written, and I found them sparking a certain contemplation of the issues that they raise.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains two "short novels," "Baby Leg" by Brian Evenson and "The Harlequin and the Train" by Paul Tremblay, previously being printed only in limited release.
I must admit that Evenson's story left me confused. It was very surreal and vague, almost like David Lynch meets Groundhog Day. I can't comment much more on it because I didn't really understand it.
On the other hand, Tremblay's story was a great example of his superb writing skills. A young train engineer ends up crashing his train into what he believes is a man on the tracks dressed like a harlequin, after which a strange group of people come out of the woods to revel in the accident. His world is forever changed as he learns a lesson between chance and predetermination. It was lyrical, mysterious, full of anticipation and dread. In the end I was left with more questions than I hoped, but overall it was an excellent piece of writing.

[David Piwinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Baby Leg” by Brian Evenson - 3/5
Interesting and bizarre, I liked it a lot at first but I thought the end was unsatisfying. Makes me interested in checking out the author’s other work at least.

“The Harlequin and the Train” by Paul Tremblay - 4.5/5
I enjoyed this a lot. Feels like a Thomas Ligotti story. Much more violent and gory compared to the other books I’ve read by Tremblay, although I haven’t read all his work yet. It’s worth picking up this book just for this novel (novella?) alone.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Way to Fall is a compilation of two Novelas. The first is Baby Leg by Brian Evenson; it is story that is as incredibly well written as it is confusing. The second story is titled the Harlequin and the Train written by Paul Tremblay. This story is easier to follow, though still very strange. However, with the exception of the last page I would say the writing is not quite as fantastic. If you are a person who lives for the strange and unusual, and also loves a little horror with your books, this is definitely the book for you.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both excellent, "what the fuck is happening" weird fiction stories. The Tremblay in particular maintained a dizzying, escalating existential dread, with elements reminiscent of Ligotti. And the model of getting the book for free in exchange far a donation to anywhere the reader thinks it's needed makes it a winner all around.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has two short novels including Evenson’s Baby Leg and Tremblay’s The Harlequin and the Train. I am a fan of both but Evenson is one of of my top ten authors so I was a little more motivated to get into his piece. Both short novels are super weird and surreal horror but I had fun reading this. I think it should be on more sites like Shabd.in so that more people can read it.

[Kelly Shull · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thrilled to get a free copy of this book from Concord Press. I’m already a fan of Paul Tremblay, but this was my first time reading anything by Brian Evenson. I enjoyed both stories very much, they were both very dark and surreal. Both writers are very good at what they do.

[Vincent Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo to the masters Evenson and Tremblay. Read all of their stuff y’all...myself included. Godspeed...

[Patrício · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baby Leg by Brian Evenson - 3,5/5. It was good, even though a tad confusing at times.
The Harlequin and the Train - 5/5. Brilliant. I loved it

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odd, unsettling, and strangely beautiful, two excellent stories that have nothing to do with each other but still somehow pull at similar emotions: Grief and loss and the possibility of redemption.

[Koral Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was this book even edited? Also none of the relationships felt even a little real. Raymond was the best character and even he was a little odd.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am open to the possibility that radical leftist hippies in the late sixties and early seventies only ever spoke in abstract philosophical terms about everything in a very and immediate terms, as if talking made any difference. But as a novel it gets kind of boring after about 100 pages. Even when things happen it feels more like a construct to move the characters to another earnest existential conversation.

More interesting than the plot is the book itself, which bills itself as "an experiment in publishing" and is given away for free (even a cute $0.00 price and barcode on the back). You are asked to give money to a charity or just someone who needs it in exchange, and then pass the book along to someone else. Lemme know if you want it.

[John Pappas]

I must admit I was attracted to Wesley Brown's novel of the aftermath of revolutionary violence and the flawed idealism of the late 60s moreso because of the marketing plan of Concord Free Press than actual interest in the author. Concord Free Press publishes short-run novels and distributes them for free, asking you donate to the charity of your choice and pass along your copy of the book when finshed, also without accepting payment. An interesting idea that bears out to be more interesting than the actual book. Although my expectations were pretty low, and I was pleasantly surprised by the book as a whole, the plot's pacing is uneven and his dialogue is utterly unrealistic. For those interested in this subject, try John Edgar Wideman's Philadelphia Fire.

[Tatiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh. the idea of a free book that is supposed to be passed around is cool (if you're not a compulsive book hoarder like, er, me), but this book falls pretty flat. raymond and muriel sound exactly alike, and if i look up briefly, i usually have to go back to the beginning of a section to see who i'm listening to. a lot of the conversations come off as didactic exposition more than literary conversations. and a select few passages made me roll my eyes at their melodrama. but the plot, the interweaving of fiction with the facts of the 60's is cool. i just wish it were better written.