2005 Year in Review

Empire Falls

By Richard Russo

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, this book is a spellbinding read. What is so interesting is that the characters are people you could meet on the street in Morrison. Miles Roby slings hamburgers at the Empire Grill and has done so for twenty years. Tick, his sixteen-year-old daughter, needs both his emotional and physical presence to survive both high school and her parent’s divorce. Miles soon-to-be-ex-wife, Janine, is ready to marry an obnoxious health club owner. Francine Whiting, a ninety-year-old woman, owns everything in town and thinks with certainty that she owns Miles, as well. Add into this mix Miles’ father, Max, a man who both floats from job to job and in and out of Miles life, and his brother, David, who is fighting to regain his life after a battle with alcoholism.

In this small blue-collar heart of America town, the Empire Grill serves as the meeting place for coffee, food, and, most importantly, a place to catch up on the gossip. Each of these characters and their heartache, fears, challenges, wins, and losses are identified within each of us, the reader. Miles is a decent guy who struggles to understand what has happened to his life and tries to take charge of it. He is cheered on in his struggle by his brother, David, his love from afar, Charlene, and his ex wife. It is a story told with many parallels to other characters: Tick, his daughter, and in flash back, his mother, Grace.

This is a big novel full of subplots and real life interesting people: a newspaper man, Horace, the young priest, Mark, the senile priest Tom, the new kid in town, the arrogant quarterback of the football team, and the town policeman. At times, I laughed out loud, not because it was so hilarious, but because I “recognized” the people!! It makes me glad I live in small town USA. There were times during the book that I wanted to rush and read “to find out” and other times when I wanted it to slow down so the pleasure would last longer.

This is an interesting, fun, and intensely personal book. There are no pat answers for the challenges the characters meet. Always it is a struggle, but one of decency: an understanding of oneself and the circumstances, which impact one’s life. A great read and a book, which makes the reader, look at herself.

by Anne Frame, Guest Columnist
March 31, 2005