Falling Up the Stairs

by James Lileks

A reporter with a nose for libel cases divides his passion equally between two women while trying to run his inherited house and dealing with a wholistic lifestyle organization willing to kill in the name of good health

Genres: Humor

310 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 1988

Reviews

[Wesley Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love James Lileks' writing, and this is a good, entertaining book. Unfortunately, it's severely hampered by possibly the worst Kindle conversion that I have ever seen. Multiple paragraphs of dialog are run together as one, and paragraph breaks occur in the middle of sentences. On the upside, the characters' voices are so distinct, I never wondered who was talking. On the downside, no book intended to make a person laugh, and no book this funny, should be this difficult to read. If you're a die-hard Lileks fan, like I am, you'll struggle through the Kindle version because you know the writing and the story are worth it. If you're a new reader, though, try to find one of the used hardcovers instead.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember being on vacation when I bought this book, and since everyone else in the hotel room was asleep, I hid in the closet with a flashlight to read it, trying to muffle my laughter.

[Xeburnout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Lileks is a great writer. Certainly more famous for his other writings but this novel is delightful. His writing style is what makes the book so good. He is so witty and well read and it comes out perfect in his work. You feel like half the references are going over your head, and the ones you do get are hilarious.

It may not be a perfect analogy but Mr. Lileks reminds me of a Lawrence Sanders writing about Archy McNally or even the wit of P.G. Wodehouse. The only thing I have to say that's not gushing is "1988!, come on, it's been almost 25 years why isn't there more?" Books about weird food and 1970's ashtrays are surely fun, but I'd love to read more books like this.

[Shawn Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Lileks is great. Check out his blog if you haven't already. I didn't realize until a couple of chapters in that this book was published in 1988. It was an excellent early effort, though I had a bit of trouble sympathizing with the protagonist. He's kind of an arrogant dirtbag and didn't seem to have much of an arc, but I'm talking about him so clearly he is a compelling character. Definitely worth a read if you're looking for something light and humorous.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. A little busy plot-wise, but very well written. Very funny. Nice to read a long work from James Lileks.

(If I were grading the Kindle edition, I'd only give a star or two. Riddled with typos and poorly formatted.)

[Mandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is long out of print, but is one of thee funniest books I've ever read. Way too bad I can't get ahold of it again.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, an enjoyable story. The Kindle edition was the most poorly edited book I've ever read, though.

[Murphy Daley · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really liked it. I like the author's style. the book had formatting problems, but I got through it and enjoyed it

[Daniel Erickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs an Editor

I love Lilek's voice. It gets clouded by terrible editing. Formatting an epub is much easier. Maybe a repacked edition? The story is fun with delightful characters, drowned by some harsh edits. Dialogue is vague and hard to tell who is speaking. With all the rough appearance, I read to the end entertained.

[Paul Sand · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]

I can recommend you buy this book using the link at right (no, your right), because the author, James Lileks, is a good guy, a fine writer, and amply deserves whatever slice of the low, low $2.99-for-Kindle price Amazon cuts him.

But I can't, unfortunately, recommend that you actually read it. Sorry. He's a fine writer now. Back in the 80s, when the book was written, not so much. (And there are other problems, see below.)

It starts out promising: protagonist Jonathan Simpson is a society reporter for a dinky local newspaper in Valhalla, Minnesota, the Lacs Standard. He is visited by Trygve, the servant employed by his rich Aunt Marvel from Minneapolis. Or, rather, his late Aunt Marvel, who has perished from—literally—falling up the stairs. (Involving getting her foot caught in the stair lift while simultaneously punching the "up" button.)

"I hope she, ah, died quickly."

"Not at first. But eventually, yes, she did."

"Not at first. But eventually, yes, she did."

Funny! Unfortunately, that's pretty close to the beginning of the book, and it's downhill from there. Simpson inherits his Aunt's mansion, and (not quite coincidentally) submits a column to the Lacs Standard slandering a good part of the community of Valhalla. So it's off to Minneapolis, where he runs into a dark conspiracy run by the Alimentary Information League, a radical group demanding an end to processed foods; their tactics involve mass poisoning. He also runs into a bunch of women, most of whom he manages to sleep with. I couldn't care enough about them to keep them straight. The tone gets uneven, the hero gets whiny and irritating, and the whole thing just drags on way too long.

The other problem is that the Kindlizing of the print edition did not go well. There are typos galore, and the paragraphs are consistently messed up so badly that it's often difficult to tell who's saying what. Even for $2.99, it's tough to tolerate.