Rating: 
Summary: Getting To Know A Town
Review: Miles, David, and Max. Grace. Tick and Bea and John. Francine. Cindy, Otto, and Honus. Zach. Justin, Candace, Doris, Cindy, and Buster. Janine. Charlene and Jimmy and Horace. Dawn and Peter. Fathers Mark and Tom. Charlie. Charlotte. And The Silver Fox.In no particular order, (except for Miles being primary) these are the people you come to know. One might think you either get lost in this plethora of characters- or they are too one-dimensional to ever really ever get to know them. But you'd be wrong to think that. Russo does an impeccable job painting the colorful portrait of Empire Falls. His writing is comedic, yet the story painful. The flashbacks (written in a somewhat difficult to read italics), at first a bit confusing, add a layer to the book that illuminates its ironies and destinies. I thoroughly enjoy stories about nothing, but for those of you that do not, keep reading. This is not just a story about the internal clock of an depressed town, though it might seem so at the beginning. The characters and story become even more complex. I have read many books that I have loved, but this is truly, a book I could not put down. This book is many things, and it will appeal to readers with many different preferences.
Rating: 
Summary: An okay novel
Review: This is a little cliched and predictable, but is an entertaining read. The characterisation is, however, very good.
Rating:
Summary: highly enjoyable
Review: The characters were engaging and as the story progressed I couldn't put the book down. I do agree with another reviewer that some scenes seemed a bit obvious, and I grew impatient, especially as the tempo picked up, with the digressions or flashback chapters. But all of these chapters were vital to the plot and to what I thought was a theme of the novel - that our childhood and family history have a significant impact on the progress of our lives. Miles Roby tends to simply drift along with the current of his life, until he begins to understand his family's past and the forces that are at work in shaping his life. Only then can he begin to take some control over his life.
Rating:
Summary: MASTERPIECE!!! WELL DESERVED PULITZER WINNER!!!
Review: If you read one book this year, you need to read EMPIRE FALLS. Russo has really captured the essence of "everday" people. He brilliantly relates the story of Miles Roby, proprietor of the Empire Grill and the various colorful characters who grace Roby's life and establishment in a town, once a prosperous industrial community, now fallen into decay. But the working people of Empire Falls eke out a living the best they can in hopes a brighter future lay ahead. Laugh out loud humor, at times, tragic at others. This is one book you don't want to miss. Kudos to the Pulitzer committee for recognizing this wonderful writer!!
Rating: 
Summary: Lessons in history, social studies and other yarns
Review: Having never read a Russo book (though I had seen movies based on his books), being a bit put off by the daunting length of his small town meanderings, I picked up this book after it won the Pulitzer prize, more out of curiosity why this tome wiped out other books I considered done-deal winners than out of urge to read for pleasure's sake. Like so many of Richard Russo's characters' bent toward making bad decisions I now admit I join those ranks. This book is a terrific read. Russo has earned his laurels as one of the better storytellers writing today, and if the Pulitzer seeks out books that focus on and dissect American life, then this book more than justifies the award. EMPIRE FALLS may be a mythical town, but Russo creates such a well documented history in his prologue, italicized intervening chapters, and epilogue that this small town in Maine becomes wholly beliveable. The span of character types touch every step of a class system denied by most as non-existent and in doing so Russo makes us explore motivations and explanations of why we all act out our lives the way we do. The amazing gift of this writer is his subtle way of introducing a character as part of a scene, merely mentioning his/her presence at the moment, and later returning with a whole history of how that seemingly "supporting cast" person plays a major role in the unfolding of the grand kaleidoscope of a story that is Empire Falls. He creates characters so well that they are instantly recognizeable when they enter a new development in the story, in a way that makes the reader continually say "Aha!", "Of course", as the story unfolds. By the end of the book the people of Empire Falls are so well defined that they have become indelible presences in our minds. While Russo doesn't bother with word painting or poetic glissandos about the settings or the atmosphere of nature that I usually treasure in other writers, his ability to capture small town claustrophobia is probably the best being written today. EMPIRE FALLS catches you in a net and doesn't let you go until, wonder of wonders, you notice you have just turned the last page of this 500 page tome. And I have to admit I have been missing the boat for years in not being caught up by Richard Russo. Congratulations on your well deserved Pulitzer!
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not Great
Review: While Empire Falls has a lot of things to its credit -- an interesting plot with unexpected turns, a detailed and rich view of Maine, and some good characterizations -- especially the main character, Miles Roby, and his daughter, Tick -- I felt the book dragged at times and the italicized flashbacks I found tiresome and overdone.
I also thought that the more minor characters relied too much on type and offered few surprises. I found myself especially annoyed with the characterization of Miles' ex-wife as a shrill, self-obsessed woman who only changes at the very end of the book after disaster and then more disaster strikes her, and of the even more minor characters such as the waitress, who is more characterized by her large breasts than anything else, though she is referred to so often through out the book that one expects more. Finally, I didn't like the end at the school -- but I don't want to spoil it so I won't say more than I was disappointed by what Russo with the 'troubled teen' character, John Voss.
But that aside, the location is truly brought to life and the atmosphere of Empire Falls Maine is well captured. And in the main characters of Tick and Miles Roby, there is an interesting journey to follow, even if the rest of the characters served more to add to the atmosphere than as real people.
Rating:
Summary: Russo again stands peerless
Review: It might not be fair, but when you compare "Empire Falls", point by point, with other books in Richard Russo's canon, it doesn't quite measure up. Quasi-protagonist Miles' (why 'quasi'? More on that later...) relationship with his father is not nearly as powerful nor as funny as Ned and Sam's relationship in "The Risk Pool". Nor is his relationship with his daughter as strongly realized as Sully and Peter's is in "Nobody's Fool". And the 'Empire Grill' doesn't have near the allure or reality of 'The Elm's' found in the former book, and 'Hattie's Lunch' found in the latter. Okay, maybe it is fair, because Russo keeps trodding on the same territory. This is another book set in an east coast town, beset by slow economic times and constant tragedy ("What kind of man... would walk up to another human being... and squeeze another death into the world?" asks Miles, showing the novel's pessimistic world-view). It is another book that deals with how families, neighbours, lovers, and enemies deal with each other, whether explicitly or implicitly. It is a book that relies on simple situations turned melodramatic, and complex situations turned comic. But I'll repeat an analogy I've used many times when talking about Russo's books: when you only know one song, it helps if you play it well. And Russo does. The biggest change between "Empire Falls" and the rest of Russo's book is that he relies less on his samurai-like skills for creating winning and realistic dialogue, instead preferring to internalize many of his characters' thoughts. The story is not told exclusively from Miles point of view (I told you I'd explain the 'quasi' prefix). Russo gets inside the head of many of his characters, for a chapter or two, which allows them to give their perspective on the story (As if "Rashomon" were set in Maine). The effect of this is to lighten Miles' position as protagonist, instead allowing that burden to fall on the town itself. Which in a way explains why, as the titles of his previous books often referred to their main characters ("Nobody's Fool", "Straight Man"), this book is called, pun likely intended, "Empire Falls". The town is the protagonist. That's not to diminish Miles' importance to the story. He is still the fulcrum around which most of the action pivots. But he's very different from the typical Russo 'hero'. When Bea, his ex-mother-in-law, describes him as "about the nicest, saddest man in Empire Falls, a man so good-natured that not even being married to her daughter, Janine, had ruined him", that's typical Russo. But a later exchange with Mrs. Whiting, owner and operator of the only successful businesses in Empire Falls, colours him thusly: "The old woman clapped her hands in delight. 'I don't know why I'm always so surprised to be reminded of your sense of humor, dear boy.'
'Did I say something funny?' Miles inquired." You can see how he's far less self-aware than Sully, Ned, Hank from "Straight Man", or even Dallas Younger from Russo's first book, "Mohawk". Those men all knew the power of a witty quip, and would wield them easily when the time called for it. Miles has that skill too, but is usually too run down to bother. Instead, he lets the people around him get off the best lines. In fact, they all seem to recognize this apathy in him, and try desperately, up until the book's final act, to get Miles to loosen up and show his true colours. Paradoxically, though, Russo doesn't use his secondary characters nearly enough. I would have liked to have spent more time with some of them, like Horace, the wizened and wise newspaper reporter, or David, Miles' no-nonsense younger brother, or Max, the shameless patriarch of the Roby clan. In Russo's other books, these witty but down-on-their-luck men would constantly be whispering into Miles' ear, for better or for worse but always entertaining. These run-down but impish middle-aged characters are replaced in the narrative by a flurry of teenagers. Miles' daughter Tick, an expertly realized creation (save for her never-explained handle), is a joy to read. She is smart and shy, and Russo portrays her awkwardness wonderfully. But the teens that surround her, when she lets them, are more often than not cardboard and cliche. And Russo gets a tad melodramatic when it comes to these renderings of teenagedom. True, in the end, as you will soon see, it becomes necessary. But while it's happening, it breaks up the understated tone that his adults have worked so hard to achieve. About three-quarters of the way through, I was all ready to bemoan "Empire Falls'" position in the lower pantheon of Russo's books (down there with the aforementionned "Mohawk"). But the last hundred pages are startling. He abandons the exposition of character, and concentrates hard on rendering an emotional (no, too weak a word; try 'heartbreaking') narrative conclusion. It gets melodramatic in moments, and relies a little too much on cliffhanger shocks, but it sent me into to a state where I couldn't wait to turn the next page, knowing full well that what I found there might cause my heart to jump out of my chest.
Rating:
Summary: Real Life, Warts and All
Review: This is the first Richard Russo book I have ever read. A friend told me, between fits of giggling, how funny some of the scenes were in "Straight Man", one of his previous works, and convinced me to give Russo a try. I picked up a copy of "Empire Falls" and recently finished it just before it won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. At first, I was very surprised at this award, but the more I've thought about it, this does make sense. Russo in "Empire Falls" has perfectly captured a snippet of real, everyday life. There are what appear to be character development flaws, loose ends, unaddressed questions, and plenty of the mundane aspects of daily life that are open to criticism. However, despite what Hollywood shows us, THIS is what 98% of reality is like for all us "regular folks" and Russo has described this imperfection superbly. The central character in this book is Miles Roby. He grew up in the dying fictional mill town of Empire Falls in central Maine and has never quite been able to escape from it. He is now 42 and running the Empire Grill hoping to succeed enough by hanging on to allow his beloved daughter nicknamed Tick to escape completely like he almost did. The cast of everyday characters unfolds from this common premise. Some are annoying (the Silver Fox), some endearing (Bea and David), some downright disturbing (John Voss), and some all-too-familiar (Max). You will feel anyone of them could be your neighbor, co-worker, or even a relative! Some metaphor's are obvious like the "weight of the World" in the form of Tick's huge school backpack, Miles' ever suffering mother's name of "Grace", or even Francine Robideaux as the Devil. Some are puzzling like the waitress-for-life Charlene or the banished to the boonies liberal Roman Catholic priest Father Mark. Small (all?) towns all have their little secrets and Empire Falls is no exception. Most of the details Russo so ably describes link together the inhabitants of this town in some way over the years leading to a not so surprising explosive conclusion. You can almost feel it coming through the pages as we bob and bump along in the current of life together. There are many things the reader could initially want to criticize about "Empire Falls", not the least of which would be the seeming obviousness of the title. Upon thinking about some of these gripes, I couldn't help but notice that many of them are things that bother me about my own experience in life. I realized I wanted to get on Miles' case at times for the same character issues that occasionally dog my own character! It takes one to know one, let him who is without sin cast the first stone. Russo can cut alarmingly close to the bone! Keep this in mind when you read through this fine book as I believe it will help you in seeing beyond what appear to be flaws in "Empire Falls". I'm not saying this book is pure literary perfection, but it sure is a great read! Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Elegant
Review: Russo is an elegant writer, with a direct, tender, humorous, and deceptively simple voice. Here, for example, is Tick Roby, a teenage girl, in contemplation: "Just because things happen slow doesn't mean you'll be ready for them. If they happened fast, you'd be alert for all kinds of suddenness, aware that speed was trump. "Slow" works on an altogether different principle, on the deceptive impression that there's plenty of time to prepare, which conceals the central fact, that no matter how slow things go, you'll always be slower." At the same time, this gentle and wise voice tends to sugarcoat the bitter experiences of the characters in "Empire Falls". For much of the book, there's a disconnect between what they must feel and the tone Russo uses to describe their lives. In many ways, this is a triumph. How many authors are there, after all, who can make harsh lives seem sweet? I bet Russo is aware of this effect in his writing, since the final fifty pages absolutely explode in conflict. "See," he seems to be saying, "I can do that too." Altogether, I find his elegance awesome but also a little distracting, almost as if his immense talent as a stylist keeps him at arm's length from his characters. Regardless, the book is a terrific read.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Having enjoyed immensely both Straight Man and Nobody's Fool I expected more. At times I felt like I was reading a draft and the flashback chapters were downright schmaltzy! I look forward to reading more inspired Russo work in the future.
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