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All Fall Down
Clinton's family has a reputation. His father, once a barnstorming radical, is a drinking man now. His brother, Berry-berry, is a wild vagabond, not above running a brothel to keep himself going. Clinton has skipped school for 57 consecutive days, filling notebooks with overheard conversations and waiting for his brother to return.
Then, one evening, Berry-berry does appear — in an aura of mystery that swings from excitement to callous destructiveness with shattering results.
Then, one evening, Berry-berry does appear — in an aura of mystery that swings from excitement to callous destructiveness with shattering results.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
8 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
James Leo Herlihy
21 books49 followersJames Leo Herlihy was an American novelist, playwright and actor best known for his novel Midnight Cowboy, one of three of his works adapted for cinema. He attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina and was a friend of Tennessee Williams who became his mentor.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 9, 2020
Browsing a Half Priced Books in Houston and looking for something to read, I came across this. Been wanting to read it for some time now, given Herlihy's other novel, Midnight Cowboy. This is a novel of a certain time in America, published in 1960. It reminds me a lot of Capote and MacCullers and others of that time. Writing straight-ahead narratives, but taking a few chances with characters (Berry-berry runs a whore house for some time in this novel). Later made into a movie starring a young Warren Beatty - his period as a young, rebelous stud (Splendor in the Grass and The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone), the novel is much more the story of his younger brother, Clinton. Yes, coming of age novels were really big in this period - just think of To Kill a Mockingbird. The last 20 or so pages are pretty impressive as he describes what Clinton is going through when he realizes his brother is responsible for the death of a wonderful woman. Definitely a novel of a certain period of American writing. Herlihy had an up and down career, showing ability in many different fields, but never seeming to settle down in one to show his genius. I doubt if I will read another book by him - unless I come across a $1 copy of Midnight Cowboy in a used bookstore during my travels. I do enjoy straight ahead, traditional narratives - and I did enjoy reading this novel. Just, a bit dated - and while it shows ability, it is not overwhelming excellent.
November 1, 2014
Full of wonderful characters, lovingly portrayed. Much of the story is told through the diary entries of a teenage boy Clint Williams. Unfortunately Clint's narrative voice sounded imitative of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, and is one reason I don't give this book five stars. This was Herlihy's first novel, though I think he was already established as a successful playwright. It has a bit of a southern gothic feel with eccentric characters, that reminded me of Carson McCullers and Truman Capote. I think the author was still searching for his own wholly unique voice, and found it in his next novel. This isn't Herlihy's masterpiece, but it's a very good story and I liked it a lot.
April 3, 2020
"muore a sessantasei anni a causa di un overdose di pillole per dormire": queste le parole alla fine della descrizione dell'autore. mi hanno stupita, e convinta sin da subito che Herlihy non fosse uno che scriveva tanto per farlo, ma più per dare uno sfogo alla sua mente vivace. e la lettura me lo ha confermato, essendo piena di osservazioni cui una mente ordinaria non arriverebbe.
Tante le recensioni che lo paragonano al Giovane Holden... per quanto mi riguarda, niente a che vedere. Clint Williams, l'adolescente protagonista, è infatti un personaggio descritto nei suoi più intimi pensieri e introspezioni, conosciamo innumerevoli sue peculiarità che ogni volta sorprendono; inoltre la narrazione è scorrevole ma mai banale, piena di "turning points" inaspettati e ricca di dettagli salienti che aiutano a immedesimarsi (cosa che in Holden non ho minimamente trovato). Senz'altro leggerò i romanzi successivi di Herlihy.
Tante le recensioni che lo paragonano al Giovane Holden... per quanto mi riguarda, niente a che vedere. Clint Williams, l'adolescente protagonista, è infatti un personaggio descritto nei suoi più intimi pensieri e introspezioni, conosciamo innumerevoli sue peculiarità che ogni volta sorprendono; inoltre la narrazione è scorrevole ma mai banale, piena di "turning points" inaspettati e ricca di dettagli salienti che aiutano a immedesimarsi (cosa che in Holden non ho minimamente trovato). Senz'altro leggerò i romanzi successivi di Herlihy.
January 22, 2014
Read it for the character Echo.
September 18, 2022
Don’t Expect the Movie
I can see why there were things in the novel that had to be sanitized for the original film adaptation.
Berry-berry is a total narcissist and his illusions about himself are fed by his blindly adoring family. I can see the influence of Tennessee Williams’ mentorship in this novel. Berry-berry has much in common with Chance Wayne. Both are hustlers looking for maximizing income with the least amount of effort through exploiting others.
Annabelle only pines for Berry-berry’s return. He, in return, despises his mother. There are hints of unrequited incestuous desires on both sides.
Ralph, while he suspects Berry-berry is involved with illegal activities, still romanticizes his eldest son’s exploits and legal entanglements.
Both parents idolize Berry-berry and focus so much displaced affection and attention on him to the detriment of younger son, Clinton. He is left without much direction and the illusions about his older brother.
Clinton’s illusions are slowly being dispelled when he goes to rescue Berry-berry from his most recent legal problems and try to invest in a most likely non-existent shrimping business.
This disillusionment continues with the introduction of Echo, with whom Clinton falls hopelessly in love.
Berry-berry’s return to the family relegates Clinton to the sidelines when Berry-berry and Echo are attracted to each other and begin an affair. While Clinton acquiesces to his brother he also appeals to Berry-berry to treat Echo better than his previous paramours.
Yet things turn tragic when Echo reveals her pregnancy to Berry-berry. Clinton plots retaliation but is unable to follow through. Annabelle and Ralph have suspicions about Berry-berry’s role in Echo’s death.
We learn that Berry-berry has taken off again, supposedly to California. Annabelle and Ralph have returned to their familiar patterns. Clinton is also struggling and is also returning to his role.
I can see why there were things in the novel that had to be sanitized for the original film adaptation.
Berry-berry is a total narcissist and his illusions about himself are fed by his blindly adoring family. I can see the influence of Tennessee Williams’ mentorship in this novel. Berry-berry has much in common with Chance Wayne. Both are hustlers looking for maximizing income with the least amount of effort through exploiting others.
Annabelle only pines for Berry-berry’s return. He, in return, despises his mother. There are hints of unrequited incestuous desires on both sides.
Ralph, while he suspects Berry-berry is involved with illegal activities, still romanticizes his eldest son’s exploits and legal entanglements.
Both parents idolize Berry-berry and focus so much displaced affection and attention on him to the detriment of younger son, Clinton. He is left without much direction and the illusions about his older brother.
Clinton’s illusions are slowly being dispelled when he goes to rescue Berry-berry from his most recent legal problems and try to invest in a most likely non-existent shrimping business.
This disillusionment continues with the introduction of Echo, with whom Clinton falls hopelessly in love.
Berry-berry’s return to the family relegates Clinton to the sidelines when Berry-berry and Echo are attracted to each other and begin an affair. While Clinton acquiesces to his brother he also appeals to Berry-berry to treat Echo better than his previous paramours.
Yet things turn tragic when Echo reveals her pregnancy to Berry-berry. Clinton plots retaliation but is unable to follow through. Annabelle and Ralph have suspicions about Berry-berry’s role in Echo’s death.
We learn that Berry-berry has taken off again, supposedly to California. Annabelle and Ralph have returned to their familiar patterns. Clinton is also struggling and is also returning to his role.
May 26, 2024
I remember reading 'Midnight Cowboy' years ago and thinking it was a great book (with a lot of stuff not in the movie), so decided to try some more JLH. I'd actually already seen John Frankenheimer's Elia Kazan-style version of this before I read it - a decent, well-cast attempt, but I do feel that this works better on the page overall. Incidentally, the name of the older brother (Berry-berry) soon becomes grating in the film, but is not a problem on the page.
Herlihy is great at creating memorably eccentric characters, but also very insightful regarding human emotions and psychology, as well as an impressive stylist. Parts of this are in the form of secret notebooks written by the younger brother, Clinton, and these work very well.
Despite the theme of disillusionment and the tragedy at the centre of this story, it's also often very funny, the comic highlight perhaps being when Ralph (the father) brings three tramps home for Christmas.
It's easy to see the influence of Tennessee Williams on Herlihy's writing here, and I'd also recommend this to anyone who like Truman Capote, Harper Lee and Carson McCullers. For me, it had everything I want from a novel and I loved it. JLH deserves to be remembered and I hope to read more of his work soon.
Herlihy is great at creating memorably eccentric characters, but also very insightful regarding human emotions and psychology, as well as an impressive stylist. Parts of this are in the form of secret notebooks written by the younger brother, Clinton, and these work very well.
Despite the theme of disillusionment and the tragedy at the centre of this story, it's also often very funny, the comic highlight perhaps being when Ralph (the father) brings three tramps home for Christmas.
It's easy to see the influence of Tennessee Williams on Herlihy's writing here, and I'd also recommend this to anyone who like Truman Capote, Harper Lee and Carson McCullers. For me, it had everything I want from a novel and I loved it. JLH deserves to be remembered and I hope to read more of his work soon.
December 21, 2023
James Leo Herlihy was not a prolific novelist and despite having written Midnight Cowboy (no, Schlesinger didn’t make it up out of his own head. Neither did Hoffman.) he is not widely known today. But his All Fall Down demonstrates that he saw people with a clearer eye than most writers of his time and was certainly skilled in the art of showing, not telling. In Berry-Berry and his mother Herlihy presented an unmistakable portrait of sociopathy and enabling long before such terms were popularly understood. Recommended.
Interestingly (at least to those who’ve lived in both worlds) the book also offers a snapshot of a period where everybody smoked everywhere all the time.
Interestingly (at least to those who’ve lived in both worlds) the book also offers a snapshot of a period where everybody smoked everywhere all the time.
November 27, 2020
Una famiglia disfunzionale attraverso la quale indagare i rapporti famigliari e i legami di sangue.
E capire che il giudizio, da fuori, è sempre sbagliato perché delel situazioni private di ognuno non si conosce nulla.
E capire che il giudizio, da fuori, è sempre sbagliato perché delel situazioni private di ognuno non si conosce nulla.
April 1, 2019
A sad tale of two brothers set in a time and place that doesn’t really exist anymore.
April 10, 2019
Un po' Robertson e un po' Doig, ma con qualche decennio di anticipo. Bellissima la figura di Clint, l'adolescente protagonista. Qualche perplessità su alcune scelte di traduzione.
June 25, 2019
Forse merita di più è originale, a volte ci allontana da una sequela logica ma ci tiene lì a proseguire. Ci piacerebbe che la nebbia svanisse del tutto ma su questo punto dissento dall'autore.
June 12, 2015
It seemed to me a nice blend of "Catcher in the Rye" and Truman Capote's at his best. Great tempo and gift for dialogue. Herlihy seemed to know quite well the ground he undertook for his writing. Excellent observer. Through Clinton-his alter ego- which I surmise, he portrays all the character traits of most women: fastidious,domineering,histrionic and trivial. Otherwise: imaginative and fickle (although endearing at times) that have an unbelievable erratic taste for picking their men. Which explains the cause of their misfortunes; this accounts worldwide for thousands of neurotic women and men as a result of it. Lol.
As for Berry berry he was a nightmare Herlihy tried to exorcise with this book.
As for Berry berry he was a nightmare Herlihy tried to exorcise with this book.
October 10, 2010
I'm currently rereading this old favorite, that I'd misplaced from my college collection. The playwright William Inge adapted the screenplay for the movie. Though I liked the movie, it's missing a lot of the protagonists inner musings. I still think Clinton Williams' character captures teen angst in its inertia, loneliness, and fear of ever "launching."
November 23, 2014
I liked this book but not as much as Midnight Cowboy. It is very Noir-ish and ultimately depressing. The main character Clinton reminded me of Holden Caulfield. The theme of the disturbed suburban family was a lot like Rebel Without a Cause. I guess in the 50s and early 60s these themes were popular.
January 28, 2011
Just finished this - felt like the ending was the strongest/most emotionally-grabbing part, but that was only with the context of everything else, so this is still a nice solid book. Definitely a good showing from Herlihy.
January 17, 2015
enjoyed the story...all those years ago. don't recall a thing about the story. anderson's, the disease that makes you forget. big big.
April 29, 2016
A real gem - fallen out of fashion and print for much of the time. A coming of age in the heritage of Catcher in the Rye, with a splash of Gatsby and a pinch of Tennessee Williams.
August 29, 2018
Odd and Great
The Williams family is odd. Apparently set in the 1950s, the house they live in is described as the “special” house that exists in every neighborhood where the inhabitants are also “special,” or at least different. This one is on Seminary Street in Cleveland, Ohio. This odd family is the subject of this odd book, “All Fall Down” written by James Leo Herlihy, as his first novel.
Told mainly through the eyes of 14-16-year-old Clinton Williams, each member of the odd family is brutally depicted. Clinton obsessively writes down everything in his notebooks and much of the story consists of excerpts from those notebooks. He has dropped out of school and attempts to follow his older brother, Berry-berry, a petty criminal and unsuccessful pimp who is extremely attractive to women. The father, Ralph, describes Berry-berry’s activities as “Sampling life and all its riches.”
Clinton loses his virginity to a prostitute, falls in love with a woman twice his age, contemplates suicide and murder, and keeps his compulsive notebooks. His curiosity overflows and he gathers information about others through eavesdropping, listening through the clothes chute, reading other people’s mail, and going through purses. ”A person’s intimate belongings had always held for him as much fascination as any private conversation or even a personal letter.”
The book has a strong political undertone. Remember, this is the 1950s and there is some commentary on capitalism and communism. The character Berry-berry carries the plot as he has discovered two truths about himself – he doesn’t like to work and women find him irresistible. That is a dangerous combination.
The Williams family is odd. Apparently set in the 1950s, the house they live in is described as the “special” house that exists in every neighborhood where the inhabitants are also “special,” or at least different. This one is on Seminary Street in Cleveland, Ohio. This odd family is the subject of this odd book, “All Fall Down” written by James Leo Herlihy, as his first novel.
Told mainly through the eyes of 14-16-year-old Clinton Williams, each member of the odd family is brutally depicted. Clinton obsessively writes down everything in his notebooks and much of the story consists of excerpts from those notebooks. He has dropped out of school and attempts to follow his older brother, Berry-berry, a petty criminal and unsuccessful pimp who is extremely attractive to women. The father, Ralph, describes Berry-berry’s activities as “Sampling life and all its riches.”
Clinton loses his virginity to a prostitute, falls in love with a woman twice his age, contemplates suicide and murder, and keeps his compulsive notebooks. His curiosity overflows and he gathers information about others through eavesdropping, listening through the clothes chute, reading other people’s mail, and going through purses. ”A person’s intimate belongings had always held for him as much fascination as any private conversation or even a personal letter.”
The book has a strong political undertone. Remember, this is the 1950s and there is some commentary on capitalism and communism. The character Berry-berry carries the plot as he has discovered two truths about himself – he doesn’t like to work and women find him irresistible. That is a dangerous combination.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews