What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky

Stories

By: Lesley Nneka Arimah

Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh

Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

A National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Honoree
Winner of the 2017 Kirkus Prize
Winner of The NYPL's Young Lions Fiction Award
Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Leonard Prize
Shortlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize

A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home.

In “Who Will Greet You at Home”, a National Magazine Award finalist for The New Yorker, a woman desperate for a child weaves one out of hair, with unsettling results. In “Wild”, a disastrous night out shifts a teenager and her Nigerian cousin onto uneasy common ground. In "The Future Looks Good", three generations of women are haunted by the ghosts of war, while in "Light", a father struggles to protect and empower the daughter he loves. And in the title story, in a world ravaged by flood and riven by class, experts have discovered how to "fix the equation of a person" - with rippling, unforeseen repercussions.

Evocative, playful, subversive, and incredibly human, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky heralds the arrival of a prodigious talent with a remarkable career ahead of her.

©2017 Lesley Nneka Arimah (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Strange and wonderful…a witty, oblique and mischievous storyteller, Arimah can compress a family history into a few pages and invent utopian parables, magical tales and nightmare scenarios while moving deftly between comic distancing and insightful psychological realism…her science fiction parables, with their ecological and feminist concerns, recall those of Margaret Atwood. But it would be wrong not to hail Arimah’s exhilarating originality: She is conducting adventures in narrative on her own terms, keeping her streak of light, that bright ember, burning fiercely, undimmed.” (New York Times Book Review)

“[A] remarkable debut collection…. Of all of Arimah's considerable skills, this might be her greatest: She crafts stories that reward rereading, not because they're unclear or confusing, but because it's so tempting to revisit each exquisite sentence, each uniquely beautiful description…electrifying [and] defiantly original.” (NPR)

"Stunning." (O, the Oprah Magazine)

This woman can write!

The book is a slow burn, but the stories suck you in! One story sticks out to me as not safe for listening to at night or before bed because it is just plain creepy. I’ll let you be the judge. Overall, this is a great collection!

Fantastically compelling short stories

The stories are a great mix of science fiction, magical realism, and everyday people. Beautifully read and an easy length to listen to.

Great book/stories. Skip the audio book. Audible ruined this book experience.

I enjoyed most of the stories. Wish I’d gotten the book instead of audio. I would not recommend this audio because it is out of sync with the book chapters. It’s impossible to know where one story ends and another begins. Story names are not listed on the chapter list & don’t align, so it’s difficult to to go back and re-read or review a story. Disappointing!

great short stories

lovely shorts, I hope one or more get developed into a full story. Very unique African stories.

Amazing stories !!

I will definitely listen again. The stories explore the intersections of love and loss, grief and solace, choice and circumstance. If you're looking for a book with short stories that explore immigration, the effects of anti-Black racism, LGBTQ protagonists, magical realism, inter-generational relationships, fables, and class structures all through a lens of strong characters and deeply felt relationships, this is a must-read. Many thanks to Ms. Arimah for this beautiful collection. Many thanks to Levar Burton for introducing me to her stories.

Intense

Well written and really well read. For me the reoccurring theme of everyday villians and their victims who don't learn, some of which go on to become villians themselves, was a little trying by the end. On the other hand the mixing in of fantastical elements makes the stores feel unique and just a degree from our world in a very cool way

Captivating stories

Great stories. They were very riveting. I chafed at not having closure sometimes.

As a Nigerian, I didn't really enjoy the narration.

wow.

I love this. a large swath of genres covered and just killer work. distinct voice. original concepts. fantastic variety and just damn good writing. damn. have to track all this author's work down after this intro. top notch

Heartfelt, Stories for the Soul!

Each story perfectly written to describe a lesson which needs to be learned. Every story has a message behind it & great wisdom shared.

The stories are captivating & leave you wondering

I haven't read a book like this before where so many times you are left wondering what happened. The stories were captivating and I want to know how does it end up. I suppose it is up to me...