Tales of Falling and Flying

These tales or fables read like minimalist Beckett, if Beckett had been taught how to write by Aesop, Isak Dinesen, and someone with the faith in humanity of Dickens. They are puzzling, wise, always clever, and often just plain funny, but they all make you think. Great sophomore outing. Revised from 4 to 5 stars because I keep thinking about them.

Raymond Carver put me off short fiction for many years. A short story never engages me emotionally the way a novel does, plus I found Carver’s work, in particular, rather dry, oblique and difficult to interpret. But in recent years a new brand of short fiction has risen to popularity, best exemplified by the work of Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners), Karen Russell (St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves) and Aimee Bender (Willful Creatures). This stuff is eccentric, surreal and whimsical. And, just like that, I am now a fan of short fiction.

Ben Loory’s fiction definitely falls squarely into that category, so if you’re turned off by all things quirky, this is not for you. The stories in Tales of Falling and Flying are mostly show more very short and easy to read. Many of his characters (both human and animal) are strivers and dreamers. Some succeed while other fail spectacularly. Thus the title. But there’s also a fair amount of literal flying and falling as well. A personal favorite, “The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun,” is about a squid who, inspired by his love for the sun and his desire to be with her, reaches Leonardo DaVinci/Nikola Tesla heights of invention in his quest to achieve his goal. Ultimately, like Icarus, his success is also his downfall. In “The Fall” a man who sees a woman fall from a cliff and reports it to a policeman, only to find that he imagined the entire thing. Or did he? “Toward Earth” opens with a woman falling from a plane, only to discover that she has the ability to fly (and that skeptical geese can talk).

There’s also a couple who just barely survives a zombie apocalypse, a girl with a dragon for an imaginary friend, a man who eats rocks, an epidemic of homicidal giant spiders, a monster in the closet and an overworked Grim Reaper. This is a varied and hugely entertaining book. On the surface, the stories are mostly humorous, but there’s also a certain pathos that gives them extra depth. I actually read quite a few of them twice too look for clues to their meaning.

This is a very entertaining read. show less

I am glad you are not a Tolstoy Mr. Loory, because the readers’ world needs a “Ben Loory” as well. Every story in this book stretches the mind’s limits and shocks you without disturbing your soul. I feel lucky to read a book like this in my life time and recommend it to anyone who is into authentic entertainment.

This was such an entertaining read! The weirdest thing is, the first bunch of stories had the oddest endings but each story in this book really reeled me in. I definitely want to read another book by this author and...I highly recommend this read.

Fun to read - an original voice.

Yes. I made it to page 54. I am finished. I tried and tried to like it. I had such high expectations given the blurbs (one by a favorite author). I was expecting something like Aimee Bender - stories I would be thinking about 10 years later. These stories were so choppy and lifeless I forgot them WHILE I was reading them. Oh well, moving on to something better!