Fall Back Down When I Die

De: Joe Wilkins

Narrado por: MacLeod Andrews

For readers of My Absolute Darling and Fourth of July Creek, a "riveting and timely" Montana story about the unbreakable bond between a young man and the abandoned boy put in his care (Jess Walter), as old grievances of land and blood are visited upon them.
Wendell Newman, a young ranch hand in Montana, has recently lost his mother, leaving him an orphan. His bank account holds less than a hundred dollars, and he owes back taxes on what remains of the land his parents owned, as well as money for the surgeries that failed to save his mother's life.
An unexpected deliverance arrives in the form of seven-year-old Rowdy Burns, the mute and traumatized son of Wendell's incarcerated cousin. When Rowdy is put under his care, what begins as an ordeal for Wendell turns into a powerful bond, as he comes to love the boy more than he ever thought possible. That bond will be stretched to the breaking point during the first legal wolf hunt in Montana in more than thirty years, when a murder ignites a desperate chase.
Caught on the wrong side of a disaffected fringe group, Wendell is determined both to protect Rowdy and to avoid the same violent fate that claimed his own father. A gripping story set in a fractured and misunderstood community, Fall Back Down When I Die is a haunting and unforgettable tale of sacrificial love.
Finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Wilkins delivers a Shakespearean mix of drama and mortal danger in crisp and beautiful language...He renders the effects of violence and trauma on the daily machinations of human lives...The world of the novel, rural Montana, is presented with the native realism of someone familiar with the people, language, landscape, and controversies of the 'way out here'...He captures the social dynamic of communities of few people spread over many swaths of land...This novel instills hope. Wilkins has produced a remarkable book filled with characters who, despite their inherent differences over how to exist on the land, remind us of the myriad reasons that every person might be loved."—Jason Hess, The Oregonian

"A tense story delivered in sharp, evocative sentences, Fall Back Down When I Die captures what feel like eternal tensions of land, loyalty, and vengeance. . .Wilkins is also a talented poet, and his sense of sound and line seeps into his prose. . .He has a fine sense of pacing, imbuing the book's final quarter with an almost dizzying suspense. He's at his most poetic when setting the scene with descriptions that create a palpable atmosphere. . .These are melodies of pain and penance -- the right song for a novel about a riven land."—Nick Ripatrazone, National Review

"To read Joe Wilkins's first novel is to spend time in eastern Montana, to feel the sharp wind cutting across the cedar ridges, through the sagebrush and bunchgrass, kicking up dust that gathers into grit at the corner of your eyes. It is to hear the sweet, languid whistles of the meadowlarks in the fields. It is to feel "the gravel and the ruts and the old cracked tires" beneath you and to see, above you, always, the wide sky, its "whole box of colors" and its "extravagant stars," that pull of the sublime to lift your gaze from the intractable earth. And it is to know how hard-earned the beauty is. Wilkins achieves a rich evocation of place through seasoned language, tough and tender like the steak the characters are always eating. It is a landscape where they chew on their trouble, pick old bones, are gnawed at by their losses."—Holly Haworth, Orion Magazine

"Wilkins's novel feels insightful amid the ongoing debate over public land and legal rights, but it's also timeless, and it treads the same kind of territory as writers like Kent Haruf and Ivan Doig, digging into quiet stories of people living close to the land."—Heather Hansman, Outside

"There isn't a wrong note in Wilkins's novel. He manages to pull off the development of characters simultaneous with a growing sense of unease; the storm is becoming visible on the horizon...Wilkins is evolving into one of our best American writers."—Chris La Tray, The Missoulian

thumbs up

there are some obvious similarities between this book and fourth of july creek. if that sort of thing bugs you, relax. this is a compelling piece of fiction. it’s its own thing and it has a lot to say. it’d be a great use of a credit for fans of suspense novels, westerns, or literary fiction (not to mention the socio-anthropology crowd).

Beautifully written

Evocative of so many different feelings and thoughts. It feels like truth... It is heartbreaking with truth.

Worth reading

Loved the richness and relatability of the characters and their beautifully told stories in the mountains of Montana.

Impossible to stop listening!

So good! Beautiful writing and pitch perfect narration. This is one of the best things I've listened to on audible.

Wonderful portrayal of land and life I do not understand

The author gives us a vivid insight into two realities in this Montana world with a bond of a boy and a young man holding the center

Beautiful descriptions

The imagery in this book is stunning, you so easily fall into feeling like you are in the mountains seating flies even if you’ve never been in a wood. The story is so realistic and heartbreaking, a good read.

Way Too Much Liberal Whining for Me

No more of this book. Sorry I wasted a credit. Author: Global warming IS a liberal tax scam. Just write an honest book that doesn’t pander.