Falling in Place

by Ann Beattie

An unsettling novel that traces the faltering orbits of the members of one family from a hidden love triangle to the ten-year-old son whose problem may pull everyone down.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Novels, Literature, 20th Century, Literary Fiction, The United States Of America

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Ann Beattie (born September 8, 1947) is an American short story writer and novelist. She has received an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and a PEN/Bernard Malamud Award for excellence in the short story form. Her work has been compared to that of Alice Adams, J.D. Salinger, John Cheever, and John Updike. She holds an undergraduate degree from American University and a masters degree from the University of Connecticut.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, fantastic. Here, finally, is a book that jumps between a number of characters, chapter by chapter, and still gives each his due. Some of these characters will stick with me for a long time, notably the creepy friend, whose name I'm ironically forgetting. Parker. I wasn't forgetting, I was ironically forgetting. When the climax, as it were, happens, a few characters drop out a bit oddly, but I think it was a conscious choice Beattie made, because everything else was so well crafted and great. The magician was the only character who seemed a bit flat throughout, but even he was fleshed out at/by the end. So many strange things happen in this novel--or if not strange, just quotidian, and so particularized that the realism was heightened to ridiculous heights. It's the same particularization of a Lorrie Moore story, without the quirky wink wink effect. There were absolutely no tricks here. I think this has to be one of the most straightforward novels I've ever read. Yes, the Updike and Cheever comparisons on the front cover are, I'd say, justified. Just straightforward, no nonsense, memorable characters, a sad, fascinating, and extremely enjoyable read. Just great. Juuuust great.

[Esther · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I was reading the NYT book section and there was a review of Ann Beattie's new book and the reviewer said why isnt she more famous, very underrated american writer etc. Having never heard of her before reading this, my interest was piqued along with the description of her earlier novels being contemporary stories about everyday troubles, which appeals to me. So I picked this up second hand on Amazon for a couple of bucks and thought I'd give her a whirl.
Well she's not more reknown because simply she's not a very good writer. I struggled through this, none of her characters came to life. The references to contemporary culture, instead of illuminating the time (1980) were annoying - everytime someone turned on a radio it seems they were playing Blondie's Heart of Glass. Reading that for the fourth time had me wanting to throw the book out the train window.

[Vincent Scarpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She had just lost, and someone she hardly knew had had to tell her that. She had suspected, but she hadn't known. She smiled, remembering a game of cards she had played with Spangle years before in a motel room, the two of them on a trip to see his grandmother in Idaho. She had won the first game, and then in the middle of the second, she had had to ask, ‘What are the rules again?’ A blind person crossing the street, then climbing onto the sidewalk and forgetting what a sidewalk was. One night she had helped a blind woman across Chapel Street, and when they were safely on the sidewalk, the woman had stood there, looking more baffled than she had standing on the curb at the opposite side, hesitating about crossing. Cynthia had gone back to her. ‘You know where you are now?’ she had said, and the woman, sounding baffled, had reeled off the names of streets to the left and streets to the right. She knew where she was. Cynthia looked back at her once, and she was still standing there. Why should it be odd that a blind person was baffled? Because you assume that when they can find their way, they are all right. What if they can find their way but don't want to, or are just tired of it?”


A phenomenal novel, as great as Chilly Scenes of Winter. Can't believe I hadn't read it before now. A reminder not to ever neglect the backlist!

[Carol Storm · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is Ann Beattie's second novel, and it's not nearly as good as her legendary debut, CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER.

There are some writers who write really well about children, and some who write well about teenagers, and some who write well about family life. Ann Beattie is not one of those people. So much of this novel is devoted to characters she clearly does not like and can not understand -- a fat little boy who reads comic books, for example. It's fair to say Ms. Beattie was never a fat little boy, and judging from this book I'd say she never picked up a comic book in her life. There are a pair of teenage girls who are equally unrealized and deeply unattractive in a way that suggests a real aversion to teenagers in general.

All things considered, I'd give this one about two stars.

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

People at different stages of life intersecting by proximity or chance, reflecting life’s unanswerable questions onto and off each other. More or less exactly what I wanted from a full-length Ann Beattie novel based on my impressions of her shorts.

There are a couple of sections describing love that are some of the most beautiful things I’ve read all year. Something about her writing really resonates with me, even if I can’t quite put it into words. I think it’s probably just a matter of wondering about the same questions.

[Virginia L. Carey · Rating 1 out of 5]

IReading this was a waste of my time. There were way too many characters and none of them had any redeeming qualities. The family dynamics made for a pitiful plot, which at times made me feel as though I was watching the destruction of a unit that had no hope of recovery. The ending was incomplete and unfulfilling. In general, I have nothing good to say about the book. That fact makes me sad because I admire authors and feel that each of their works is a part of them that should not be judged too critically. This book, however, I consider a literary failure.

[Nikko · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was interesting enough to at least get through, but I found the characters, setting, and plot (or lack thereof) to be pretty lame. Just boring people living boring lives, not really doing anything or going anywhere, with lots of references to 80's music and culture. I continued to read it because I thought that it would pick up, and really get interesting but it never did. Happy that I picked this up from a train station bargain bin for 50 cents. Money well spent. I guess.

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 1 out of 5]

This just never came to life for me. She's got too many characters with the same style of name to keep track of. They were all one-dimensional. The plot wandered as bad as Moses in the desert. I like Blondie's "Heart of Glass" but there was no need to continually mention it as the song that was playing all the time. There were other songs that were also hits in that year, like Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" or ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down" or "My Sharona" by the Knack.

[Timothy Blenkinsop · Rating 1 out of 5]

stream of boring consciousness.

[Cathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending of this book was so bad, I decided it must be brilliant. I actually went back and reread the ending the next day, as it seriously made me think. Is it out inability to change that leads to disaster...or is it our salvation? The only characters that might actually be capable of change are the stalker magician and Bobby, the drifter. For everyone else the story seems to end more or less in the same place it began.

It would all be harmless enough if it weren't for the kids, who definitely need someone to put them first - for a change.

[Dave Moyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for a college class. Admittedly, she is a bit much for me.

[Oscar Maquito · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.9/5

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recall very little of this book. But I read it 38 years ago. I recall a clown and a creepy sense that something bad was going to happen.

[Evan Allen]

Intriguing with some scenes that genuinely stuck but a little to flat for me, with some really obnoxiously overstated scenes and plots

[Remi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so painfully mediocre that I can't be bothered writing a proper review. Enough time has been wasted. For those who care, enjoy these brief bullet points.

• Ann Beattie is best known for Chilly Scenes of Winter and her short stories. I have no idea where I heard about this novel or why I decided to start with it. My hunch is that it might have been on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast, but surely he wouldn't have recommended this?

• Part of me hopes I missed something or that I just wasn't in the right mood for it, but ugh, getting through this was rough.

• This is very proto-American Beauty (ie. a commentary on the upper middle class American existence/family), only it's the 1970s instead of the 1990s. I'd have rather just watched American Beauty.

• At times, Beattie's prose is beautiful and captivating, and there were chapters/sections that I thoroughly enjoyed. But there were just so many characters I didn't care about, so many inane conversations that weren't dynamic enough to engage with, so much repetition, so many redundancies that the beauty of the language was often lost on me.

• I usually like slice-of-life dramas, but this was just a little boring.

• There is too much dialogue in this novel, and dialogue is clearly not Beattie's strong suit.

• No 10-year-old would ever talk/act like that. Fuck off.

• Mary getting shot by her brother was such a useless and contrived addition to the plot.

• This could be excellent if someone edited it down to a tight 180 pages.

• I'm still somewhat curious to try Chilly Scenes of Winter , but after this experience, it's going to be a while.

[Allie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I didn't finish this book. I was about 3/4 of the way through when I found myself at a coffee shop with one of those "take a book, leave a book" shelves and decided that I really didn't care what happened to the wannabe-Tom Wolfe characters. What had started as mindless subway reading had turned into an unbelievable soap opera with the uncomprehensible twist involving an attempted murder. And with such a limited cast of characters, was it really necessary to name three of them John, Jonathan, and John Joel? I spent at least 20 pages thinking two of those were the same person. Oh, and did you know this was the 80s? Or do the pop culture references on every single page escape your notice? Don't worry, there will be more on the next page. I believe the blurb on the back of the book said this was "The Catcher in the Rye" of the 80s, but I'm pretty sure Holden Caulfield would dismiss everyone in it as phonies.

[Susan Emmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this novel. Was drawn mainly to the characters of John, father/husband on the run, in love with Nina - and to Cynthia, the summer school teacher, and to Mary, the daughter who's shot by her brother (who's under the spell of a most horrific "friend," Parker).
Each chapter cycles between and among the characters, turning each of their "quests" upside down and sometimes sideways.
Much about 80s music; that was cool.
And much about inadequacy, the search for love and meaning in a world full of uncertainty, irony (often unrecognized), and emptiness.
But something resonates in me from reading Beattie's novel. Will continue to figure out what.

[Sab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Infidelity in the suburbs in the first blushes of the yuppie 80s. A disenchanted Connecticut suburban dad finds kinship with his daughter's free-spirited summer school teacher and her world of laid-back youthful free love.

Beattie's writing is sharp, evokative, and completist; every time I reread this book I'm transported to that hot 80's summer where every time you turn on the radio it's Blondie's "Heart of Glass," and everything seems better than the life you've got.

[Dorothy Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is sad, wry, and does a good job describing the moral ambiguities in the traditional American family. It describes the falling out of a family, that was barely held together only out of mutual feelings of guilt and obligation. Each member is equally guilty of indifference and neglect, but also very lovable.

The narration style reminded me of Faulkner's 'The Sound and the Fury' a bit. Except that towards the end of the book, a main narrator does usurp the voice of the novel.

[Jim Manis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dysfunctional New Yorkers, c. 1979

I've read quite a few of Beattie's short stories over the years. This is the first of her novels that I've read. She brings the same stylistic expertise and themes to this longer work as she has in her short stories. The best part of the novel, however, is the part about a ten-year-old boy shooting his fifteen-year-old sister. This action does not resolve any problems.

[Lacewing · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, ironically twisted story about family and other relationships, a modern fractured fairy-tale set in suburbia.

If a director could bring out just that quality, I'd love to see a movie starring the anti-king, anti-princess, anti-wizard and so on. Near the end, maybe everyone would wear the fool's hat, at each other's service.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of an Ice Storm/1970s death of the American Dream vibe. At the core of this book is an unhappy family - a cheating husband, an unsatisfied wife, a bored teenager, and a chubby insecure 10 year-old.

[Marie B. Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

What just happened?

I read this book through to the end because I hoped all these plot threads would be resolved. But just because everyone is (unbelievably) connected to everyone else doesn't mean that there are any resolutions. The circularity is cute, but unsatisfying.

[Jane Lump · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although challenging to read, the complex, flawed characters make this worth the effort. In the end, it's hard to know who you are rooting for and why. But maybe that is how ambiguous life really is.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2002

[Jolie G.]

Aug 11, 2006

[Jameswaldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fine book. Liked it a lot.

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Westchester NY and suburban CT circa 1980. Dated, but withh a realistic feel to the characters.

[Andrew]

With this, I'm convinced that Ann Beattie is a far better short story writer than a novelist. Chilly Scenes of Winter had truly stellar moments, but somehow didn't come together for me. On the other hand, Distortions was great. Falling in Place was several notches below both -- an attempt at a novel of blasé people doing blasé things while Blondie played, but ultimately I just didn't give a fuck what happened.