Falling Room

American Lives

by Eli Hastings

Coming of age poor in spirit in the America of plenty is an old story that is yet endlessly new, beginning afresh every time a confused teenager tries to make sense of his privileged place in the world. Eli Hastings got a head start on this when his idealistic, permissive parents divorced, and he sought answers by sneaking out at night to play chicken with freight trains, write graffiti, and get high with friends. This youthful rebellion included an arrest and weekend in jail for drug possession and later jail for an act of civil disobedience during the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. Hastings recounts how a privileged, white, fiercely leftist American male tries to make sense of himself in relation to the contrary people and situations he finds in books and his travels to Cuba and Central America. Falling Room is the tale of how one man matures through the sometimes violent blessing of social change and finds himself--and a sense of purpose--through the loss of innocence and naiveté. Reflecting on the firsthand experience of hip-hop and substance abuse, of the fracturing of family, the loss of his father, and of the imperialism of the United States, Hastings’s story offers a new and moving look at how families, nations, and individuals survive and heal.

180 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

I’m an author living in Seattle with my brilliant, dancing doctor wife, Lili, and nutcase toddler, Pax. I’m passionate about using writing to help at-risk youth, so I’m a team leader at PONGO TEEN WRITING. Through both my books, but especially my recent memoir, you’ll see how the sorrows of mental disorder and addiction have affected my life. Because of this I’m finishing an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy and currently in the midst of my clinical internship counseling youth.
Background:
• My latest book, Clearly Now, the Rain: A Memoir of Love and Other Trips, was published by ECW Press in May 2013.
• My first book, Falling Room (2006), a memoir/essay collection, won Best Nonfiction Thesis at UNCW in 2004.
• I earned an MFA and taught Creative Nonfiction and English courses at the UNC at Wilmington.
• I’m a nonfiction editor at the online literary journal CEDARS.
• My fiction and nonfiction has appeared in: Rivendell, Third Coast, Cimarron Review,Pinyon, Whetstone, Alligator Juniper, Pedestal Magazine, the Seattle Review,Wandering Army, The Tulane Review, Blood Lotus, R.kv.r.y, Flashquake, 580 Split, YES! Magazine and 10,000 Tons of Black Ink, & Lightship Anthology 2.
• I’ve been anthologized in Men Speak Out (Routledge Press, UK, 2007), AmericanLives: A Reader (University of Nebraska Press, edited by Tobias Wolff, 2010), Show & Tell: Writers on Writing (University of North Carolina Wilmington in 2009) and will appear in 10,000 Tons of Black Ink “Best Of” Volume II.
Awards and Accolades:
• Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, once for the essay I placed with Third Coast and most recently for my short story “Ghost Train” at 10,000 Tons of Black Ink.
• The essay at Alligator Juniper won their nonfiction contest.
I’ve also had several honorable mentions and runner up accolades, but you know about horseshoes and hand grenades.

Reviews

[Eli Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, if I could edit it one more time, I would. But I'm still proud of it.

[Patrick Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this incredible book, and I plan to read it again. I had the pleasure of studying under this author as a CRW student at UNCW. His class was brilliant, insightful, and influential, and reading his book brought back a flash of memories and his great writing advice. As soon as I can, I plan to purchase a copy of his latest publication. For those who enjoy nonfiction, I strongly suggest giving Hastings' work a good read.

[Wendy]

Excellent read!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honest. Beautiful. Moving.

[Faydra Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author was a fellow MFAer.