Flights

by Jim Shepard

Biddy Siebert has problems. His parents are always fighting about him, his sister hates him, and the nuns at school are threatening him with motivational training. He feels lost - until he sees a chance to do something right, and concocts a plan for growing up quickly.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Jim Shepard is the author of seven novels, including most recently The Book of Aron, which won the Sophie Brody Medal for Achievement in Jewish Literature from the American Library Association and the PEN/New England Award for fiction, and five story collections, including his new collection, The World To Come. Five of his short stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories, two for the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and one for a Pushcart Prize. He teaches at Williams College.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim's first novel (published in 1983) has long been out of print, but it's a delight. Seemingly a conventional coming-of-age story, set in Stratford, Connecticut, the story gets weirder as it goes on, ending in a thrilling sequence that gives the book its title. Reading it, you can see the seeds of Jim's later masterpieces, but the book works perfectly well on its own.

[Ben Fowlkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once more Jim Shepard makes the point that he is awesome and you are bullshit. When are you finally going to get this through your head?

[Marco Bucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

If my math is right, Jim Shepard wrote this book when he was 27? Damn.