![A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall by [Abramowitz, Andy]](https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41NFjW-zmRL._SY346_.jpg)
What do you get when you mix a sister who's a struggling writer and a brother who designs roller coasters? A very touching story of the daily struggles of love and relationship and just daily living.
The book opens with a wham-BANG at the (seeming) death of Davis Winger under the renegade tire of an out of control car that crushes him on a deserted beach (What???) and that just shows you--the end of the story is merely a detail; it's the living that important. And so the story talks about Davis' designing parks and troubleshooting faulty logs in water rides that trap overboard riders and about how he met his beloved. And how Molly tries to fit her writing into the vagaries of media marketing where ads for escorts seem to indicate a readership she's not prepared to work for.
The story meanders around but ends up where each character learns what's most important in life.
Lots of funny stuff and also tragic, and the writing is crisp and almost telegraphic. Short chapters, quick action and funny details. Very readable.
My brothers are a big part of my life. Even though we live continents apart and manage to get together only a few times a year, we’re constantly texting and FaceTiming. They anchor me in a way few people can—kind of like Molly and Davis Winger do for each other in A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall.
Author Andy Abramowitz dazzles in this heartfelt story of a roller coaster designer and his journalist sister whose lives take some sharp turns over the course of one unforgettable summer. For Davis, that means losing his job and his wife after she learns of a past indiscretion. Meanwhile, Molly’s career ascends in ways she never imagined, yet the real curveball comes when she’s forced to revisit the circumstances that led to their mother abandoning them years ago. Through it all, the one thing Davis and Molly can count on is each other.
As much as this book brims with heart and humor, it doesn’t shy away from exploring what makes the bonds of family so complex, complicated, and ultimately essential. Insightful and endlessly entertaining, warm as it is witty, A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall is a pitch-perfect story of a family trying to find its way back to each other—and the wild ride that ensues.
Author Andy Abramowitz dazzles in this heartfelt story of a roller coaster designer and his journalist sister whose lives take some sharp turns over the course of one unforgettable summer. For Davis, that means losing his job and his wife after she learns of a past indiscretion. Meanwhile, Molly’s career ascends in ways she never imagined, yet the real curveball comes when she’s forced to revisit the circumstances that led to their mother abandoning them years ago. Through it all, the one thing Davis and Molly can count on is each other.
As much as this book brims with heart and humor, it doesn’t shy away from exploring what makes the bonds of family so complex, complicated, and ultimately essential. Insightful and endlessly entertaining, warm as it is witty, A Beginner’s Guide to Free Fall is a pitch-perfect story of a family trying to find its way back to each other—and the wild ride that ensues.
- Chris Werner, Editor
