Wednesday, January 6, 2021

EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo

 Finished Tu 1/5/21- First book o the new year...

This is one of my ancient trade paperbacks that I had never read. I remember how much I liked the movie 'NOBODY'S FOOL' that was written by Russo and starred Paul Newman.

The reason that 'EMPIRE FALLS' caught my attention was that I read an excerpt from a book about the Trumps where Ivanka, his daughter, was asked if she had read 'EMPIRE FALLS', she replied...."Why would you ask me to read a book about fucking poor people". 

Set in 20th century Maine in a town that used to be supported by a shirt factory. The factory has been closed for many years, yet the elderly female owner still lives in the town and is a 'behind the scenes' mover and shaker. Miles, who owns a local diner and he is the central protagonist. He's in the middle of a divorce from a woman who wants out to marry the owner of the local health club, Walt. 

It's a sprawling novel with brilliantly written characters. This is probably the best book about the Northeast in areas that have been abandoned by industry.

Link to the books page at Wikipedia. This is a comprehensive look at the novel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Falls

I just noticed that the movie was made as a HBO mini-series in 2005. It's two discs and I put it in my queue at Netflix. 

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