Empire Falls

I recently watched the HBO movie of Richard Russo’s Empire Falls, and it reminded me how great the book was. I read it a while ago, so for a summary I will just refer you to this reading group guide. (This is a good resource, by the way, for those who have a book group or just want food for thought. It’s got reading group guides for tons of books. Click “Find a Guide” to browse all the titles.)

Anyway, Empire Falls is a pretty amazing book, and I’m not just saying that because Russo won a Pulitzer Prize for it (although that is usually a good sign). The characters and place are vivid and memorable, and the book is funny, scary, heartwrenching, wise and true. I can’t imagine anyone not being totally hooked.

P.S. The HBO movie version (available on DVD) actually does pretty well by the book, and it’s got a great cast that includes (but is not limited to) Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt and Robin Wright Penn.