The Mechanics of Falling Book Tour

(Note: I was contacted a couple of months ago and asked if I would be willing to read and review a new collection of short stories by Catherine Brady, entitled The Mechanics of Falling.  Because I was intrigued by the description and will do just about anything for a free book, I immediately accepted and here we are today!)

Generally speaking, short stories aren't really my bag when it comes to reading for pleasure.  Often they either feel too rushed or too long and I don't feel as connected to the characters as I do when I spend 300 pages of a novel with them.  I had my reservations when I began reading The Mechanics of Falling, and I could not have been more pleased to discover that these short stories completely broke through my prejudices and made me fall in love.

Brady won the 2002 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, an award that seems completely apropos as O'Connor is one of the few short story writers that I will actively go out of my way to read.  I would also compare her style to Joyce Carol Oates--perhaps not embodying the gritty tone that Oates often trends towards, but in the way that her stories stay with you even after you have read the last sentence, and you find yourself reading the last few paragraphs again, looking for that something that will bring you some sense of closure.  The writing is stunningly beautiful in its subtle symbolism and metaphor, and there are so many lines that are almost shocking in their wisdom and stark truth.

The description on the bookjacket begins, "In all our lives, there are moments when the seemingly fixed coordinates of our existence abruptly give way... Brady's brilliant new collection, set in and around San Francisco, explore such moments.  The characters... share a fundamental predicament, the struggle to name and embrace some faith that can break their fall."  It is that feeling of giving way, of falling, that remains vividly in the reader's soul long after the book is closed.  The end of each story feels like the beginning of a freefall--a feeling that can be exhilirating or terrifying, and often inevitable.

"When the pond became clotted with algae scum a few years ago, the channel from the creek slowly filling in, Nna had accepted this next small loss, the pond growing murky the way her memories of summers here as a child had silted up over time." From Much Have I Traveled, p. 162

"From somewhere below them, there's a thud as a carpenter hammers at the wall, and Laurel flinches.  She cannot get used to the construction noise, the sound of blows raining down as men rebuild her house.  The gods have poor aim too.  There are only these bungled missives that may or may not encode ruin." From Seven Remedies, p. 188

To purchase The Mechanics of Falling, please visit Amazon or Powells.com.

To read some of Catherine Brady's insight into her writing and stories, you can visit the following links:

Guest Post on First Books

Interview with Liz Saint John for ALICE 97.3

interview with Ann Ryles, published online at The Rumpus.net

Comments

[Steph.]

So jealous that you got this kind of review offer! How do I get in on some of that action? I keep getting Veggie Tales videos! LOL!

[shani]

San Fran? I must read!

Also, how did you come to be asked for a review?

[Catherine Brady]

Thanks for the review of my book, The Mechanics of Falling. Story writers often feel like poor cousins to novelists, so I was really pleased that you found the stories engaging. --Catherine Brady

[Wendy]

I was part of this tour as well - and I loved this little book. I like short stories, so I didn't have to overcome what you did...but that said - there are good collections and not so good collections...and I would classify Brady's writing among the best.

[Larissa]

Sounds like a beautifully written book. I'll be adding it to my summer reading list.