Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Empire Falls

Empire Falls
Empire Falls
Author: Richard Russo
Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school. Or maybe it's Janine, Miles' soon-to-be ex-wife, who's taken up with a noxiou...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780375726408
ISBN-10: 0375726403
Publication Date: 4/12/2002
Pages: 496
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 641

3.8 stars, based on 641 ratings
Publisher: Vintage
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

kermitreads avatar reviewed Empire Falls on + 53 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
Good book about crazy families and how to live with them without throwing yourself into traffic.
reviewed Empire Falls on + 37 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 7
Very well told story of a small town. Many well-developed characters.
reviewed Empire Falls on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
This book describes life in the small town of Empire Falls, Maine through the lives of its inhabitants as they struggle to survive - both economically and psychologically - in a town that has seen better days. The book won the Pulitzer Prize and was a New York Times Notable Book of the year.
reviewed Empire Falls on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Excellent book! The story is easy to follow and very intense in parts.
reviewed Empire Falls on + 117 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Winner of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, 'Empire Falls' has a great plot and very real characters. Poignant, humorous and just a good read.
Read All 101 Book Reviews of "Empire Falls"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

reviewed Empire Falls on
Every book seems to have a start-up phase where it take some amount of pages before I can really get into it. I almost quit this book because at page 100 or so I was still not that interested in the story line and wondered where it was going. Well I am so thankful that I did not shelve the book at that point because it picked up and the rest of it really was a pleasure. So while I loved most of it, I rate it only three stars because it has a slow start. This author writes amazingly well; I appreciate how he writes this story (and others I've read- Straight Man is good too) using the various perspectives of the characters so you get not just one viewpoint but a compilation of them.
reviewed Empire Falls on + 2 more book reviews
This was a most enjoyable book. I found as I read more, I couldn't wait to pick it up again to finish it. I especially liked the relevance to Maine areas, where I've been. I would definitely recommend this book.
reviewed Empire Falls on + 13 more book reviews
I loved this book!
reviewed Empire Falls on + 628 more book reviews
I actually have mixed feelings about this book. It most certainly kept my interest but there were times when his writing style frustrated me. All of the characters were flawed and some just evil, so perhaps, that was my difficulty in reading about them. The ending is quite explosive.
booklit avatar reviewed Empire Falls on + 473 more book reviews
enjoyable read
reviewed Empire Falls on + 8 more book reviews
This is the book on which the HBO series was based. Complex characters paint life in a small town way in vivid colors. You will root for the good,strong characters to succeed and cheer for the controlling types to "get theirs."
reviewed Empire Falls on + 13 more book reviews
Not Russo's best (that would be "The Straight Man," but a good read with vivid characters.
reviewed Empire Falls on + 24 more book reviews
I have tried to readh this several times and just cannot. someone must like it because it has been made into a t.v. movie.


Genres: