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EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo

This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002, and I must admit, I spent the first half of the book attempting to figure out why. Here's something I've decided ... male writers of adult fiction, for the most part, bore me to death! They spend a lot of time describing details that don't seem all that important and too little time describing details that seem soooo important, and that's what I felt like what was happening in the first half of EMPIRE FALLS.

The book did strike a chord with me in that Russo's description of the small town Empire Falls seemed spot on to my hometown. I could see the parallels clear as day, and it resonated with me ... being witness to the fall of Miles Roby's little small town and the Whiting empire.

It's not coincidence that the town is a play on the concept of falling empires and the cause of such falls ... greed and power and control.

The book redeems itself in the second half, with scenes that are both heartwarming and extremely disturbing, and I did find it extremely interesting the parallels Russo made with the cancer Miles' mother suffered from and that of the cancer of the Whiting control on Empire Falls. Definitely a good read to pick apart and analyze.

Overall, I'd say this book is a great book to pick up this summer. Supposedly HBO did a mini-series based on the book not too long ago. I have a feeling the book is much better than the movie, but I may try to check it out this summer.