The Law of Falling Bodies

by Duff Brenna

Fifteen-year-old Virgil Foggy is trying to survive on a failing dairy farm in Minnesota. Virgil's mother is pregnant-an unwelcome addition to the family. Virgil's older brother joins the army and goes to war, but warfare is also close to home, much of it between Virgil and his stepfather. The Law of Falling Bodies is a novel about the schizophrenic, ubiquitous, and cyclical nature of all wars within and between men, women, and nations.

298 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2007

About the author

DUFF BRENNA is the author of nine books, including The Book of Mamie, which won the AWP Award for Best Novel; The Holy Book of the Beard, named “an underground classic” by The New York Times; Too Cool, a New York Times Noteworthy Book; The Altar of the Body, given the Editors Prize Favorite Book of the Year Award, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and also received a San Diego Writers Association Award for Best Novel 2002. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts award, Milwaukee Magazine’s Best Short Story of the Year Award, and a Pushcart Prize Honorable Mention. His book Minnesota Memoirs was awarded Best Short Story Collection at the 2013 Next Generation Indie Awards in New York City. His memoir, Murdering the Mom, was a Finalist for Best Non-Fiction at the same Independent Publishers Awards.His work has been translated into six languages.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duff Brenna's novels are all strongly written and this is no disappointment. It is set during the Vietnam War and the point of view is a 15-year-old boy, Virgil Foggy, whose struggles on a Midwestern farm is set against the backdrop of his brother's experiences in Vietnam -- and the reader realizes in some ways both are fighting to stay alive.