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Free Fall of Webster Cummings
Losing his arm in an Alaskan machinery accident, Ed Flannigan moves to Oregon, where he confronts New Age colonists, organic farmers, and a cranky guardian angel who resides in a peach tree. Tour.
Hardcover
First published July 1, 1995
76 people want to read
About the author
Tom Bodett
37 books117 followers Tom Bodett is an American author, voice actor and radio host. He is also the current spokesman for the hotel chain Motel 6 and is famous for popularizing the phrase, "We'll leave the light on for you".
A native of Sturgis, Michigan, Bodett had previously provided commentary for National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and was a regular columnist for the webzine Mr. Showbiz. He also did the voiceover for "Mime Time" and the "Good Idea/Bad Idea" segments on Animaniacs.
As a broadcaster, Bodett hosted two radio programs. The End of the Road from 1988 to 1990 and Bodett & Company in 1993. He also hosted the public television program, Travels on America’s Historic Trails.
He is currently a regular contributor to The Bob Edwards Show on XMPR and a member of the stable of panelists on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, a National Public Radio news quiz show.
A former resident of Seattle, Washington and Homer, Alaska, he now lives in Vermont.
A native of Sturgis, Michigan, Bodett had previously provided commentary for National Public Radio's All Things Considered, and was a regular columnist for the webzine Mr. Showbiz. He also did the voiceover for "Mime Time" and the "Good Idea/Bad Idea" segments on Animaniacs.
As a broadcaster, Bodett hosted two radio programs. The End of the Road from 1988 to 1990 and Bodett & Company in 1993. He also hosted the public television program, Travels on America’s Historic Trails.
He is currently a regular contributor to The Bob Edwards Show on XMPR and a member of the stable of panelists on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, a National Public Radio news quiz show.
A former resident of Seattle, Washington and Homer, Alaska, he now lives in Vermont.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 5, 2007
My personal favorite book by Tom Bodett.
It had me eating peaches for weeks.
It had me eating peaches for weeks.
September 3, 2025
DNF. While I was enjoying the storyline, there was too much inappropriate/New Age content for me.
September 9, 2018
Probably about 15 years ago, my mom lent me a book called The Free Fall of Webster Cummings, written by Tom Bodett. We had a similar taste in books, and we lent to each other often. She was never one to hyperbolize anything, so when she said The Free Fall of Webster Cummings might just be one of her new favorite books, I figured I’d like it.
I started it the book shortly after she gave it to me, around the same time I started another semester of school. I read half a chapter, lost interest, and put it away. And anyway, trying to read for pleasure while you’re in school is a futile effort. I chalked the book up as one of the very rare reads we wouldn’t agree to love together.
About a week and a half ago, I was browsing my own library and rediscovered it sitting there. I plucked it back down from the bookshelf and dove in.
In a month, the earth will have traveled around the sun twice since my mom passed. There are things you might miss about someone, and you might not even know you miss it until much later. I miss trading books with her. A small thing we used to do, but somehow in this moment, I feel so so melancholy that I can’t do that small thing again with her. What I wouldn’t give to call her and talk about Ed Flannigan, Lloyd and Evelyn, Oliver, Buddy, Zowat, the Bedinger-Hooples, Deidre and Anthony, and all the other quirky characters in this captivating little book that I haven’t been able to put down for over a week. The one she suggested to me well over a decade ago. The one she told me might just be one of her favorite books. The one which just made it onto my favorites list.
I started it the book shortly after she gave it to me, around the same time I started another semester of school. I read half a chapter, lost interest, and put it away. And anyway, trying to read for pleasure while you’re in school is a futile effort. I chalked the book up as one of the very rare reads we wouldn’t agree to love together.
About a week and a half ago, I was browsing my own library and rediscovered it sitting there. I plucked it back down from the bookshelf and dove in.
In a month, the earth will have traveled around the sun twice since my mom passed. There are things you might miss about someone, and you might not even know you miss it until much later. I miss trading books with her. A small thing we used to do, but somehow in this moment, I feel so so melancholy that I can’t do that small thing again with her. What I wouldn’t give to call her and talk about Ed Flannigan, Lloyd and Evelyn, Oliver, Buddy, Zowat, the Bedinger-Hooples, Deidre and Anthony, and all the other quirky characters in this captivating little book that I haven’t been able to put down for over a week. The one she suggested to me well over a decade ago. The one she told me might just be one of her favorite books. The one which just made it onto my favorites list.
October 17, 2023
A Review of the Audiobook
Originally published in 1995 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by the author, Tom Bodett.
Duration: 15 hours, 43 minutes.
Unabridged.
I think Tom Bodett's End of the Road series of short stories is just one of the best audiobook experiences out there. Technically, this book is part of that series even though almost none of it takes places in that oddball community of End of the Road, Alaska (it earned its name by being, well, the place where the road ends.)
Bodett is well-known as a frequent panelist on the NPR show Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! but he is most well-known for his voiceovers for Motel 6 in which he promised in his folksy way, "We'll leave the light on for you."
I say all of this just to say that this book was a major disappointment.
Everything about this book seems like it should work. It has a grounding in his Alaska stories. It consists of a series of short stories - his area of expertise.
But, there is just way too much going on in this book. There are way too many plotlines going on and Bodett tries to weave them together so they all tie up in a couple of nice little knots at the end and he just doesn't get it done.
There are two plotlines from Alaska, two plotlines from Seattle (one is mysteriously dropped about 1/3 into the book), a cross country plotline from New York City and Los Angeles, a family from Ohio that heads west in stages to find themselves (one finds that Indiana may be far enough west), supernatural forces, PTSD, memory loss, mysticism and a man named Webster Cummings who fell more than a mile from a commercial jet plane over New England and survived. Webster near death experience inspired him to find his biological parents.
Just too much and I just ended up wanting it to end.
I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5.
Click on this link to see all of my reviews of audiobooks by Tom Bodett:
https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/sear...
Originally published in 1995 by Brilliance Audio.
Read by the author, Tom Bodett.
Duration: 15 hours, 43 minutes.
Unabridged.
I think Tom Bodett's End of the Road series of short stories is just one of the best audiobook experiences out there. Technically, this book is part of that series even though almost none of it takes places in that oddball community of End of the Road, Alaska (it earned its name by being, well, the place where the road ends.)
Bodett is well-known as a frequent panelist on the NPR show Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! but he is most well-known for his voiceovers for Motel 6 in which he promised in his folksy way, "We'll leave the light on for you."
I say all of this just to say that this book was a major disappointment.
Everything about this book seems like it should work. It has a grounding in his Alaska stories. It consists of a series of short stories - his area of expertise.
But, there is just way too much going on in this book. There are way too many plotlines going on and Bodett tries to weave them together so they all tie up in a couple of nice little knots at the end and he just doesn't get it done.
There are two plotlines from Alaska, two plotlines from Seattle (one is mysteriously dropped about 1/3 into the book), a cross country plotline from New York City and Los Angeles, a family from Ohio that heads west in stages to find themselves (one finds that Indiana may be far enough west), supernatural forces, PTSD, memory loss, mysticism and a man named Webster Cummings who fell more than a mile from a commercial jet plane over New England and survived. Webster near death experience inspired him to find his biological parents.
Just too much and I just ended up wanting it to end.
I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5.
Click on this link to see all of my reviews of audiobooks by Tom Bodett:
https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/sear...
March 15, 2020
I don't remember exactly when I read this book, but I remember we found it in an aisle at Dollar General or something. Both my wife and I read it, and enjoyed it IMMENSELY.
It's been several years since then, so I can't remember exactly what it was about, but I think it was a bit like the film Crash. Lots of stories that don't seem to be related, and then gradually come together. Read this book...you'll enjoy it.
It's been several years since then, so I can't remember exactly what it was about, but I think it was a bit like the film Crash. Lots of stories that don't seem to be related, and then gradually come together. Read this book...you'll enjoy it.
December 8, 2017
Yes, this is written by the man behind the voice of the Motel 6 commercials! I loved this book. Bodett weaves an enticing story that comes together in the end in such a way that I would call it genius.
May 30, 2022
I absolutely love Tom Bodett's stories. This is a great continuation of the stories of the people from the end of the road.
I really enjoy the stories and the characters feel like the are so easy to relate to.
I really enjoy the stories and the characters feel like the are so easy to relate to.
March 13, 2019
If a book ever needed a cast of characters list, it has to be this one. Lots of little vignettes, lots of characters and it all sort of came together, but not exactly. Probably a 2.5 rating.
October 31, 2008
An odd ball group of characters go through a variety of life changing misadventures only to converge on a strange little town in Oregon. The title character's adventure starts when he's sucked out of an airplane and survives without a scratch.
The Free Fall of Webster Cummings is made up of individually well written vignettes but together they don't add up to a coherent or compelling narrative .
I reserve the 50 page rule for extreme situations. This novel tricked me by suddenly but briefly getting interesting on page 54. I stuck with it until page 101 as the interesting bit slowly but steadily degraded back to mind numbingly dull.
The Free Fall of Webster Cummings is made up of individually well written vignettes but together they don't add up to a coherent or compelling narrative .
I reserve the 50 page rule for extreme situations. This novel tricked me by suddenly but briefly getting interesting on page 54. I stuck with it until page 101 as the interesting bit slowly but steadily degraded back to mind numbingly dull.
June 2, 2011
This book is distilled Americana. Bodett manages not only to cross the country, but include people from several walks of life – from homeless to those with multiple homes, from farmer to businesswoman. The “twists” in this book are either exceedingly obvious or blindsidingly unexpected, but usually sweet and poignant.
One thing I enjoy about Tom Bodett’s works is his ability to leave his characters unfinished. At the end of the story, there are still unfinished personalities, room to further grow, not necessarily a “happily ever after.” People die and disappear unexpectedly, refuse to forgive and grow, just as people in the real world do. His works are so very true to life.
One thing I enjoy about Tom Bodett’s works is his ability to leave his characters unfinished. At the end of the story, there are still unfinished personalities, room to further grow, not necessarily a “happily ever after.” People die and disappear unexpectedly, refuse to forgive and grow, just as people in the real world do. His works are so very true to life.
April 5, 2013
Most people know Tom Bodett as the voice behind the old Motel 6 commercial, “We’ll leave the light on for ya”, as well as the host of the radio program The End of the Road, but he is also wonderful writer! This story weaves together many lives with improbable but delightful results. As one reviewer wrote, spending time with Bodett “is like drinking a cup of cocoa in front of a roaring fire on a stormy day”. For fans of Garrison Keillor, Mark Twain and Jean Shepherd.
March 24, 2011
This book is about a man who falls from the sky and decides to find himself on the way down. I think that this book had a great beginning but the ending fizzled out and got lost somewhere. I think that the author may have turned out the light as he wrote the last few pages or just got tired and decided he was done writing .
This hard back book was acquire from the McKay's free bin
This hard back book was acquire from the McKay's free bin
April 22, 2024
A random purchase because I remember Tom Bodett's narrations of the Motel 6 commercials and he always felt like a kind of Prairie Home Companion presence in the world of 30-second ad spots on TV.
Delightful, surprising, fun, and funny sort of magical realism romance. I love the way he ties it all together.
Delightful, surprising, fun, and funny sort of magical realism romance. I love the way he ties it all together.
January 16, 2016
Another great display of story telling by America's favorite motel spokesman. Bodett's characters are all people you swear you've met before. Looking forward to reading the rest of his books.
Re-read: 26 Jan 15
Re-read: 26 Jan 15
March 17, 2008
Love Tom Bodett, Don't see a lot of his books around, this one has great characters, very heartwarming, funny story.
January 30, 2009
Thank you, Mom for finding this book at the library for me to read. Tom Bodett's American Odyssey is compiled in this book. It has to be one of the best story ever!
February 13, 2012
I had no expectations when I started this, but I really enjoyed the characters.
May 28, 2012
Very enjoyable light read, Keillor without the smugness.
June 17, 2015
I read this book three times after I bought it, and would love to pick it up again! Would love more novels from Mr. Bodett!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews