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The Art of Falling Apart
A recent finalist for the American Buffalo Books Fiction Award, The Art of Falling Apart is a funny, surreal, and captivating tapestry of heartbreak, obsession, and the enduring bonds of love that transcend even death.
William Link should be on top of the world. He is coming up on his first major gallery exhibition, he's scored a cavernous studio apartment with the cheapest rent in town, and he has an attractive girlfriend, Sara, who's well out of his league.
But the pressure is building: He works day and night to prepare for his show, which means relationship with Sara is precarious at best. He drinks too much, and too often, which doesn't help. And he lives next to an electric guitar virtuoso, Pigeonhole, whose erratic behavior and blaring amplifiers add just one more layer of chaos to William's already tumultuous life.
But all that's not the worst of it: William is haunted by disturbing visions of his deceased mother. Not only does she appear to him at all the wrong times, but she seems to be meddling with his paintings.
Along the way William must navigate Sara's flirtatious sister and supportive, idiosyncratic father; manage his mentor and upstairs neighbor, Vernon, who is on a quest to reconnect with the aliens he believes once abducted him; and wreak vengeance upon Einstein, an eccentric record store owner who won't give back William's favorite robe. All the while William has to worry about what Pigeonhole will do next.
A complicated life to be sure. But most of all, William faces a dilemma: Is he experiencing genuine haunting or slipping into the same mental instability that once consumed his mother? And if his mother's ghost is real, is he the artist, or is she?
William Link should be on top of the world. He is coming up on his first major gallery exhibition, he's scored a cavernous studio apartment with the cheapest rent in town, and he has an attractive girlfriend, Sara, who's well out of his league.
But the pressure is building: He works day and night to prepare for his show, which means relationship with Sara is precarious at best. He drinks too much, and too often, which doesn't help. And he lives next to an electric guitar virtuoso, Pigeonhole, whose erratic behavior and blaring amplifiers add just one more layer of chaos to William's already tumultuous life.
But all that's not the worst of it: William is haunted by disturbing visions of his deceased mother. Not only does she appear to him at all the wrong times, but she seems to be meddling with his paintings.
Along the way William must navigate Sara's flirtatious sister and supportive, idiosyncratic father; manage his mentor and upstairs neighbor, Vernon, who is on a quest to reconnect with the aliens he believes once abducted him; and wreak vengeance upon Einstein, an eccentric record store owner who won't give back William's favorite robe. All the while William has to worry about what Pigeonhole will do next.
A complicated life to be sure. But most of all, William faces a dilemma: Is he experiencing genuine haunting or slipping into the same mental instability that once consumed his mother? And if his mother's ghost is real, is he the artist, or is she?
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 2, 2026
About the author
Steven Lawrence Lang
1 bookSteven Lang is a writer and artist from St. Paul, Minnesota. His debut novel, The Art of Falling Apart, was published in 2026. His short fiction has appeared in the literary journals CutBank, Chestnut Review, Catamaran, Prime Number Magazine, and Stonecoast Review, and has been anthologized in Fiction on a Stick (Milkweed Editions) and The Art of Wonder (University of Minnesota Press).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
✰ 2.75 stars ✰
I know everyone has their own way of processing grief. But one way I've always had difficulty with is having humor mask the heartbreak that still manages to find its way out. For all the ludicrousness and atrocities that one endures/behaves with, the tangible loss and sadness buried deep within one's heart always find a way out.
For almost 30yo struggling artist William Link, it has been two decades worth of a delayed reaction of unresolved feelings over his mother's suicide. one where his mother's presence lingers as more than just a spirit but a corporeal one that amplifies/channels itself into his own artwork. Is it merely a coping mechanism? An avoidance of acceptance?
“The sight of it set off a wave of guilt; the debt to my mother was beyond measure.”
I do like the wordplay in the title. How it relates to not only William's life falling apart around him but also the art itself that his mother's spirit is altering, providing a magical realism aspect that also allows her own perspective to seep in. Without preamble, which definitely caught me off guard in the nonlinear narrative.
A lot of William's actions were frustratingly self-destructive, so in trying to rein in his own conflicting thoughts on his mother's death and still current presence in his life, he behaved rather questionably at times. It failed to then have me turn a sympathetic eye towards how his life was falling apart.
But when it came down to that final confrontation of realization relating to his mother's death - that ever-relevant sentiment shines - the want to know why. The unanswered questions that burden our heart, because there is no one - no way to offer us a release. A comfort. An answer. And when that scene arrived, it made my heart ache, because I related to it so...
“Hope isn’t when there’s still a chance. Hope is when you’re out of chances.”
The core message isn't just about forgiving yourself for your shortcomings but also about forgiving where you failed. Be it with a relationship - familial or romantic - or in your own matters of life - a successful career or even your own insecurities - we all want to be forgiven. For even his mother carrying a weight of guilt after death was still a part of her son's life and was not a punishment but rather a chance to redeem herself for leaving him too soon.
The writing was alright; it stilled at times, and my interest waned and my mind drifted. Some moments in a boring artsy movie, a movie where nothing much happens for far too long were tedious, some listless some where I failed to see the humor, esp. in relation to Pigeonhole's circumstances. But ultimately, it does all work out in the end in true Hollywood-esque fashion, which allows William to reap the boon of his burdens to finally be free to forge a future that truly belongs to him.
“The more abstract the painting, the fewer the constraints, the greater the multitudes.”
I know everyone has their own way of processing grief. But one way I've always had difficulty with is having humor mask the heartbreak that still manages to find its way out. For all the ludicrousness and atrocities that one endures/behaves with, the tangible loss and sadness buried deep within one's heart always find a way out.
For almost 30yo struggling artist William Link, it has been two decades worth of a delayed reaction of unresolved feelings over his mother's suicide. one where his mother's presence lingers as more than just a spirit but a corporeal one that amplifies/channels itself into his own artwork. Is it merely a coping mechanism? An avoidance of acceptance?
“The sight of it set off a wave of guilt; the debt to my mother was beyond measure.”
I do like the wordplay in the title. How it relates to not only William's life falling apart around him but also the art itself that his mother's spirit is altering, providing a magical realism aspect that also allows her own perspective to seep in. Without preamble, which definitely caught me off guard in the nonlinear narrative.
A lot of William's actions were frustratingly self-destructive, so in trying to rein in his own conflicting thoughts on his mother's death and still current presence in his life, he behaved rather questionably at times. It failed to then have me turn a sympathetic eye towards how his life was falling apart.
But when it came down to that final confrontation of realization relating to his mother's death - that ever-relevant sentiment shines - the want to know why. The unanswered questions that burden our heart, because there is no one - no way to offer us a release. A comfort. An answer. And when that scene arrived, it made my heart ache, because I related to it so...
“Hope isn’t when there’s still a chance. Hope is when you’re out of chances.”
The core message isn't just about forgiving yourself for your shortcomings but also about forgiving where you failed. Be it with a relationship - familial or romantic - or in your own matters of life - a successful career or even your own insecurities - we all want to be forgiven. For even his mother carrying a weight of guilt after death was still a part of her son's life and was not a punishment but rather a chance to redeem herself for leaving him too soon.
The writing was alright; it stilled at times, and my interest waned and my mind drifted. Some moments in a boring artsy movie, a movie where nothing much happens for far too long were tedious, some listless some where I failed to see the humor, esp. in relation to Pigeonhole's circumstances. But ultimately, it does all work out in the end in true Hollywood-esque fashion, which allows William to reap the boon of his burdens to finally be free to forge a future that truly belongs to him.
June 16, 2026
Stephen Lang’s breakout novel, The Art of Falling Apart is a serious book about a young artist in Minneapolis struggling to come to grips with the tragic loss of his mother and its impact on his art, his relationships and his emotional survival. The characters are well developed and memorable. What they do makes sense in the same way that the absurdity of Lynch or Coen Brothers characters never lose verisimilitude because they remind you of people you know. Set in Minneapolis, the scenes are meticulously accurate, blessing the work with a deep sense of place, making America’s most beautiful city itself a character in the story.
I want to say the narrative is propulsive but that’s too rough. The reader is gently tugged along through short chapters which make for little breaks to reflect on what’s happening. A book you can’t put down is not always a compliment. One of the things I liked best about this book is that I did put it down often. Then five minutes later, I would be pulled back to it to read another chapter or two.
I sense echos of All the Colors of the Dark in The Art of Falling Apart but Mr. Lang’s work is strikingly original. To twist the aphorism about history, the two novels don’t repeat but they rhyme. Readers who liked the best selling All the Colors of the Dark will also like The Art of Falling Apart.
I want to say the narrative is propulsive but that’s too rough. The reader is gently tugged along through short chapters which make for little breaks to reflect on what’s happening. A book you can’t put down is not always a compliment. One of the things I liked best about this book is that I did put it down often. Then five minutes later, I would be pulled back to it to read another chapter or two.
I sense echos of All the Colors of the Dark in The Art of Falling Apart but Mr. Lang’s work is strikingly original. To twist the aphorism about history, the two novels don’t repeat but they rhyme. Readers who liked the best selling All the Colors of the Dark will also like The Art of Falling Apart.
July 10, 2026
I loved this novel. At times absurdist, but always deeply moving and heartfelt, The Art of Falling Apart masterfully balances comedy and sorrow and all the endless indignities and inanities that come along with both pursuing art as a mode of living and also living among other people.
Tonally the book reminded me of one of my favorite novels of all-time: Miriam Toews’ All My Puny Sorrows, another novel that circles around the suicide of a parent and its emotional fallout.
I loved the character of Pigeonhole, one of the best-rendered literary Fools I’ve come across in a novel. I found myself laughing at his grand pronouncements and also writing them down so I could revisit them later. I loved the way Lang captured the complicated feelings and almost out-of-body experience of seeing someone you had thought of as an idiot become wildly successful. I think that is one mark of his talent as a writer, that his characters are never caricatures, but all rendered with a deep-felt empathy that complicates its more surrealist plot points.
I’m really excited to see what the author comes up with next.
Art-haunted, mother-haunted, funny, lovely, and hopeful. The viscous circle is broken. Indeed!
Tonally the book reminded me of one of my favorite novels of all-time: Miriam Toews’ All My Puny Sorrows, another novel that circles around the suicide of a parent and its emotional fallout.
I loved the character of Pigeonhole, one of the best-rendered literary Fools I’ve come across in a novel. I found myself laughing at his grand pronouncements and also writing them down so I could revisit them later. I loved the way Lang captured the complicated feelings and almost out-of-body experience of seeing someone you had thought of as an idiot become wildly successful. I think that is one mark of his talent as a writer, that his characters are never caricatures, but all rendered with a deep-felt empathy that complicates its more surrealist plot points.
I’m really excited to see what the author comes up with next.
Art-haunted, mother-haunted, funny, lovely, and hopeful. The viscous circle is broken. Indeed!
July 1, 2026
A very readable book that does a wonderful job of balancing tone and characters. Whether the book is focusing on the starving artist protagonist, his mother's ghost, his rockin' former neighbor, or his alien-obsessed mentor, it never loses sight of the fact that it is a human story, about people just trying to get through the struggles of life. Great stuff.
Review of advance copy
A wonderful debut from an author I look forward to following. This book made me laugh and gave me all the feels. Really, really great!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews