Things that Fall from the Sky (Vintage Contemporaries)
A disquieting, darkly playful story in which the ceiling begins to blur the boundary between reality and fantasy. Everyday life slowly warps under an unseen pressure.
Work Information
A disquieting, darkly playful story in which the ceiling begins to blur the boundary between reality and fantasy. Everyday life slowly warps under an unseen pressure.
A disquieting, darkly playful story in which the ceiling begins to blur the boundary between reality and fantasy. Everyday life slowly warps under an unseen pressure.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Published
- 2003-07-08
- Pages
- 224 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.2 x 1.2 x 20.1 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780375727696
- ISBN-10
- 0375727698
- Price
- 3284 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Short Stories/Anthologies
Weaving together loss and anxiety with fantastic elements and literary sleight-of-hand, Kevin Brockmeier’s richly imagined Things That Fall from the Sky views the nagging realities of the world through a hopeful lens. In the deftly told “These Hands,” a man named Lewis recounts his time babysitting a young girl and his inconsolable sense of loss after she is wrenched away. In “Apples,” a boy comes to terms with the complex world of adults, his first pangs of love, and the bizarre death of his Bible coach. “The Jesus Stories” examines a people trying to accelerate the Second Coming by telling the story of Christ in every possible way. And in the O. Henry Award winning “The Ceiling,” a man’s marriage begins to disintegrate after the sky starts slowly descending. Achingly beautiful and deceptively simple, Things That Fall from the Sky defies gravity as one of the most original story collections seen in recent years.
Kevin Brockmeier is the author of The Truth About Celia and a children’s book, City of Names . He has published stories in The Georgia Review, The Carolina Quarterly, and McSweeney’s, and his story “Space” from Things That Fall from the Sky has been selected for The Best American Short Stories . He has received the Chicago Tribune ’s Nelson Algren Award, an Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award, a James Michener-Paul Engle Fellowship, two O’Henry Awards (one, a first prize), and most recently, a NEA grant. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Reviews
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As described: like new.
Actually, better. Looks like it’s brand new but has been moved around a bit so edges are scuffed. But other than that, brand new.
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Perfect for my college course
I always check Amazon for my textbooks before deciding who to purchase them through. Amazon offered this book at half of the competitors price and as an ebook. I opted for the ebook which was so convenient as it meant less weight to pack around all quarter. The book itself explores may philosophical concepts, so if you're looking to read short stories that encourage in depth thought processing and perception analysis then you'd probably enjoy this book.
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Shattering the Ceiling
I was drawn to this collection by "The Ceiling", a story in which a relationship crumbles as an invisible ceiling slowly descends onto a town and squishes everyone. Very Twilight Zone... or Simpsons movie... or Under the Dome. But a weighty story nonetheless. A few other stories in this collection are just as phenomenal. The title story, "Things That Fall from the Sky," is about memories, our perceptions, and unexpected friendships. "Space" is a story about loss and illuminating what is lost through stories. Many of these stories are stories about stories. Some of the more gimmicky ones, like "The Passenger" (a story in which people life their entire lives on an airplane -- where is it going, where has it been? -- as an allegory for life on this planet), wear thin, but they're all interesting to think about, if a bit heavy on details at times. This is a solid collection, and the stories within are incredibly varied. Included is everything from a modern take on Rumpelstiltskin, to a strange story with a twist right out of "The Village" (but better), and all sorts of literary fiction in between.
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Could be worse but...
I bought this book after reading good reviews and reading another Brockmeier book, The Truth about Celia. It is a collection of off-beat stories but for me, most of them are only fair. Many seem pointless. I enjoyed The Truth about Celia much more.
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A Must Read!
My favorite collection of short stories. I don't usually enjoy short stories but I loved several other Kevin Brockmeier books so I gave this one a shot. Amazing! A Day in the Life of Half of Runtpelstiltskin is a must read. Haunting, funny, lovely and heartbreaking, it is a work of art. A masterpiece that I read over and over again.
Related Literary Awards
- O. Henry Award Edition 82 (2002) ・Winner