[.ca] Things that Fall from the Sky (ISBN 0375727698)

From Amazon.com:
The stories in Kevin Brockmeier's debut collection require, test, try, exhaust, and--just often enough--reward the reader's patience. In Things That Fall from the Sky, Brockmeier writes in painstaking prose that's long on exposition and short on action. Many of these stories concern children. In "These Hands," a thirtysomething man, possibly with Nabokovian intentions, baby-sits an 18-month-old girl. In the title story, a depressive librarian finds relief, and even guidance, in the company of her small granddaughter. And in "The House at the End of the World," 4-year-old Holly describes her isolated life in a shack in the woods with her father: "This was during the collapse of civilization, and I believed we were the only people in the world." Here Brockmeier's expository style pays off, as he describes in detail father and daughter setting traps, lighting lanterns, and tracking streams. It's a kind of end-of-days Little House in the Big Woods, except, of course, the father is crazy, and civilization has not collapsed. In the end, Holly's mother comes to take her away, and Brockmeier doesn't shy for a moment from Holly's pain as she is carried "from the house and the bed and the world which were mine." At his best, Brockmeier writes with excruciatingly thorough imagination. --Claire Dederer

Interstitial fiction at its best:
In this extraordinary collection, Brockemeier effortlessly crosses borders between many different modes of writing -- realism, surrealism, fantasy, mystery, fable, fairy tale -- to create sharply insightful stories that have much to say about modern life and the surreal world we live in. Tender, funny, painful, and deeply moving, I highly, highly recommend this collection to all fans of interstitial fiction.

Heads up!:
Here are some of the things that fall from the sky in Kevin BrockmeierÕs striking and unusual debut collection of short fiction: an autumn leaf, errant fireworks, a lethal bucket, an impenetrable barrier of blackness, and a characterÕs dead mother. For Brockmeier, these strange rains come to symbolize the moments of pain and grace that intrude themselves upon our lives, falling without warning onto our unsuspecting heads. These stories move effortlessly from naturalism (a boy shares his first kiss on the same day that his Bible teacher is killed by a falling bucket) to fantasy (a manÕs marriage falls apart as the sky above his house creeps ever lower), and each is distinguished by a richness of theme and character and a formidable stylistic talent. Not every story here works, but those that do are quite impressive. Brockmeier, it seems, is a writer to watch.

Excellent.:
We were assigned to read "The Ceiling" and The Truth About Celia (novel), and with those two read, I had to buy this book. Kevin Brockmeier is an extraordinary writer, and I wait anxiously for his next book.

Disappointing:
I was quite excited to read Kevin Brockmeier's Things That Fall from the Sky after I was exposed to his work in BASS and O'Henry (both stories I liked). That being said, I couldn't get through most of the remaining collection. Brockmeier often has lengthy, over-telling passages that state, too obviously, his themes. I imagine this reflects his background as a children's writer, but for the literary scene, it's far too much telling and makes the reader feel as though Brockmeier doesn't trust them to GET IT on their own. He'd be wonderful if he just SAID less... Wouldn't recommend to my students at this point.

A Fantastic New Voice:
With Things That Fall from the Sky, Kevin Brockmeier boldy introduces himself as a writer worth reading. Every story is a joy to read, and taken as a whole the collection makes a lasting impression.