Customer Reviews

Falling While Sitting Down: Stories

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Falling While Sitting Down (love that title!) is a collection of four short stories by Joshua Millburn that follow a theme of life and those who pursue living it. They (both the characters and the stories) are different yet they seem to intersect somehow, in a hard-to-describe way. Maybe it's because they're all about the human condition and what it means to be alive, with all the good and all the bad. These stories really spoke to me, as they paint a gritty and sometimes painful portrait of life and how effed up it can be.

My favorite piece was the first and also the longest story, It's All So Quiet In Brooklyn. I'm a city boy through and through, and Joshua's description of the city and the urban landscape of Brooklyn really drew me in. I loved how despair and hope were mixed in equal amounts, resulting in a very interesting cocktail indeed.

The next three stories (A Radically Attenuated History of Generation X, Falling While Sitting Down, The Loneliest Man in the World) were a delight to read. They flow together but end up taking different departure routes, leaving you with mixed feelings when you finish them, which is a very good thing, because it forces you to think about what you just read.

There are also three bonus stories by three up-and-coming writers, each story a small gem of brilliant writing. These stories work quite well with the four previous stories by Joshua. Kudos to these young writers, and I can't wait to read more fiction from them.

My one complaint (if it can be called that) is that the last short story included in the three bonus stories (Up North), which is a beautiful piece of writing, was marred by several missing key words and constant gender inconsistencies. I was forced to go back and re-read several lines and then make sense of the sentences, and that took away from my enjoyment of the story. It almost seems like it was not proof-read before publishing. But this was not enough to dock a star, hence my 5-star rating.

All in all this was a very enjoyable and fast read, and I congratulate the author on his first fiction Kindle book! I also love that this book is lendable. Some authors still won't allow their ebooks to be lent out, so thank you, Joshua.

At 99 cents, this is a steal. Get this book now!

I'm not a book reviewer, so you'll forgive me if I fail to artfully capture the essence of this collection.

It's good.
Really good.
I read it through in one sitting.
First story reminds me of David Foster Wallace's work.
I'd say the book fits the description.
These are lonely, broken characters, and they are all looking for something to make them whole.
If you're expecting thinly veiled allegory on the virtues of minimalism (I was) you will be disappointed (if you enjoy thinly veiled allegories) or pleasantly surprised (if you prefer real writing).*

Recommended.
Will be looking forward to JFM's upcoming novel.

*I am a lover of literature first, and minimalism second. The minimalism is there, but it's wrapped up in nice, subtle symbolism. No Aslan to be found. (The Perra del Norte doesn't count. She's awesome.)

The story Falling While Sitting Down was for me the best read.
I felt as if I was an invisible person in the room in each scene, I could see the characters hear them,and smell the rooms and places. My heart went out to him when he put the key in the door expecting his Mother to be passed out on the couch cigarrete in hand. The tension and overwhelming feeling.
This story has stayed with me for days, my mind going over it and reliving the words,for me always a sign of a good read.
If this is a taste of a more indepth novel I look forward to Joshuas next book.

I really enjoyed these stories. For me, they accomplished what I seek when reading fiction: for a few moments these stories took me out of my own life and into the lives and places of other people. And I understand myself a little bit better as a result. Highly recommended.

This collection of short stories entitled "Falling While Sitting Down" by Joshua Fields Millburn is a fairly realistic look at the human species, as I see it. It might not be a look at us at our best, but nevertheless, some of these characters have probably crossed all our paths at some point in our lives.

Throughout the several stories there is the feeling of overwhelming loneliness, depression, and missing out on what might have been. These characters carry a lot of baggage, either real as they move to get away from their problems, or psychological baggage that moves right along with them. My favorite one of the stories is "It's All So Quiet in Brooklyn." There are some very nice sentences and passages in this story that I highlighted and went back to and read over again several times. They set not only the atmosphere, but what Jody is thinking and feeling as he waits alone in his friend Michael's apartment and while the other roommate sleeps with the cherished air conditioner running in his room, while the rest of the apartment is hotter than it is outside. "...and yet in many ways he knew the relief he felt at this moment--the relief of a new life without a past--was far greater than any temporary relief a change in temperature or humidity could bring. It was a relief of momentary immortality, a feeling of beling alive."

As Jody tries to sleep his mind remains active. "Thoughts of Jolene and of the unborn baby, of his ex-wife, of Shelly from the bus, of how pointless this life might be without a past, and how miserable it was with one." This is an excellent story that is very well-written. My criticisms are the few vocabulary words that unexpectedly show up that don't quite fit with the rest of the language in the story, and not everyone is a linguistics major, so in "Falling While Sitting Down" the little discourse on the African-American vernacular could have been either left out or written without the details of the "distinctive phonetic changes." I thought it distracted and didn't add to the quality of the story.

Overall, this is a very good collection of stories for the reader who likes short stories and who likes literary fiction. One of the best things about them is the truth in each.

What a great book and a promising author. Several short stories showcase a real talent for reality. I was really impressed by Mr. Millburn...what I really liked was the ability to make reading this book akin to the feeling of a home cooked meal..the one thing I will say, is the stories had enough depth to be developed further - especially the 'Loneliest Man' and the first story, loosely based on a cat called 'Jody'.

Highly recomended.

Reality never lies - and this book is a stone cold classic.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this collection of short stories. I've followed three of the four writers on their blogs, but I hadn't had the opportunity to read any fiction written by any of them. After reading through the collection of short stories, I was delighted.

Getting lost in a good story is something I love to do. And "Falling While Sitting Down" allowed me to do just that!

Each short story in this collection had me examining the human experience from the character's perspective. One story made me laugh ("When I Open My Eyes" by Chase Night), and one made me cry ("Up North" by Mark D. Robertson). One story made me curious about how closely the prose parallels the authors actual life ("It's All so Quiet in Brooklyn" by Joshua Millburn). "The Beam" by Colin Write successfully brought to life an inanimate object. All four of the stories have left me with images and thoughts days after reading them.

If you want to read something entertaining and meaningful that will pull on your emotions and challenge you examine what's important, you'll want to check this out.

After more than 5 years without reading any fiction, Falling While Sitting Down reignited my interest and passion for the genre. It is exactly what I want in a book- warm, inviting, engaging and challenging. I highly recommend it! Looking forward to Joshua's novel in the upcoming year.

In 1958 Orson Welles used a (very) long take at the opening of "Touch of Evil" to pull viewers into his story. Joshua Millburn creates a moment of absolute delight with a similar technique at the start of his second story "A Radically Attenuated History of Generation X". He writes the longest sentences I've ever read and pulls me right into the scene. I was so surprised by the narrative when I first read it that I laughed out loud...and read it again. Did I miss a period? I must have, that could never be one sentence.

And yet it was.

Far too long to send as a text message, yet one coherent thought from start to finish.

The moment was unexpected and satisfying, like that time you found a crumpled and forgotten $20 in your coat pocket.

In some ways the whole book is like that. I never knew what was coming but by the end of each story I wanted to know the next step in the plot and I wanted to meet the next character.

How fun is that?

The additional material by contributing authors Colin Wright, Chase Night, and Mark Robertson is different in style but very good nonetheless. Colin Wright's "The Beam" stands out in particular, like a crisp one act play.

I rarely buy books (I'm a library guy), but here I make an exception. You can't borrow it, so buy this book.

Seriously, where else can you spend this little and feel like you found a twenty?

The series was certainly not what I expected from Millburn after being an avid reader of his Minimalist essays; instead of feeling hope in the challenge of self-improvement, Millburn's series of short stories allowed access to a sense of peace and acceptance of that which I struggle with at the most basic level. I felt inherently understood by his characters in my own sentiments of isolation, abandonment, self-reliance, anger, and complacency (although I assume each person will draw from their own inter-workings and identify with different traits within the series' identities). At times I was embarrassed for stumbling into someone else's most interpersonal thoughts and other times I identified so deeply with a character, for moments I was convinced my psyche betrayed me and my own deep-rooted and private reflections were exposed bare.

Each of the final three pieces followed different methods but succeeded in journeying with the reader through unexpected yet beautiful ideals. I grappled with Wright's "The Beam" for some time after finishing the story. It began like a sweet children's novelty due to the narration by an air port ceiling beam but finished with a turbulent twist and a myriad of lessons about my perception of my place and contribution in the world. "When I Open My Eyes" provides comfort in that we are not alone when asking the regretful question, `What if?' "Up North" is a simple tale of friendship, hope, and aging that is lighter than the rest of the stories but completes the series nicely as it provides a sense of finality the other pieces purposefully lack.