"Nobody does small-town life better than Richard Russo." –Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Rich, humorous, elegantly constructed . . . Easily Mr. Russo’s most seductive book thus far."–The New York Times

"Reading Empire Falls, Russo's fifth novel, is like catching up with an old friend -- it just feels good (that and you're sure to get some good gossip). With a sprinkling of the dry humor we'd seen in Straight Man and the drama of Nobody's Fool (which was made into a movie starring Paul Newman), Russo has written, for the most part, a balanced book about economic, social and moral power struggles in a small town in Maine.

Interestingly enough, the town of Empire Falls is as much a character in this book as it is a setting. Or maybe it would be more precise to say that the town could also be seen as a kind of attire (which is interesting given the town's chief source of prosperity). Through sparse bits of flashback and dialog, we piece together several decades of its history -- from the relative prosperity of its textile-mill and shirt-factory days to its economic decline and hints of an economic upswing. Russo does this masterfully within the context of the lives of the people who live there. We see key elements of the town's history as Miles sees it, and we begin to see a parallel between his life and the town in general".............Publishers Weekly

1. On page 21, Miles remembers his mother maintaining that "one of the good things about small towns, is” they accommodate just about everyone.”
Do you think this is an accurate description of Empire Falls?

2. When reading about a certain time or place in a novel, the reader gets a sense of emotion about what he is reading. What emotions did you feel in reading about Empire Falls, and the residents now remaining in town?
How did you feel about Miles’ irritants: his father Max, his ex-wife’s lover, Walt, and even the local law enforcer, Jimmy Minty?

3. Why is Miles’s relationship with Tick so important to him? In what ways is it reminiscent of his mother's attachment to him?
How do Grace's expectations for Miles, as well as her ultimate disappointment in him, shape the way he is raising Tick?

4. In your reading, did you find any hints that Grace was less than the ideal wife and mother that Miles remembers and reveres?

5. Why does Miles choose to accept his mother’s version of their trip to Martha’s Vineyard, even thought it entails a betrayal of his father?

6. What were your first reactions to the introduction of the character Cindy Whiting? Do you sense an odd relationship here between mother and daughter?

7. Do you think there will be something portentous forthcoming in regard to the character of\John Voss? This one is a real mystery!

8. That cat! That cat! How do you all feel about “Timmy”?

9. Charlene tells Miles, "David has this theory that between your mom and dad and him and you there's, like, one complete person" [p. 226]. Has each member of the family selected a particular role, or have their positions been thrust upon them? Is the division of roles a natural part of family life? Which member of the Roby family is the "most complete"? Did this strong individual identity come at the expense of anything else

10. Why does Tick befriend John Voss? How does her sense of responsibility for him compare to Miles's feelings, both as a child and as a grown man, about Cindy Whiting? Are the differences attributable to the circumstances that bring each pair together, or do they reflect something deeper about Tick's and Miles's morality and their abilities to empathize with other people? What other incidents demonstrate Tick's understanding of what other people need? Why is she unable to treat Janine in the same comfortable, non-judgmental way she treats Miles and Max Roby?

11. Would you define Mrs. Whiting as a "mother figure" for Miles? Does she perceive herself in this way? Does Miles? Beneath their very different personas, what traits do Mrs. Whiting and Grace share? Do they represent the strengths and weaknesses usually associated with women? In what ways does Mrs. Whiting's description of her relationship with Grace [p. 435] reaffirm their similarities? Which woman is more honest with herself about her motivations and feelings?

12. All of the marriages in Empire Falls fail in one way or another. Does your sense of who is responsible for each marital breakdown change as the events of the past and present unfold? Discuss the contrasts between the ways each of these marriages is initially described and the "real" stories: Grace and Max; Mr. and Mrs. Whiting; Miles and Janine; Janine and Walt. Mrs. Whiting says, "Most people . . . marry the wrong people for all the wrong reasons. For reasons so absurd they can't even remember what they were a few short months after they've pledged themselves forever" [p. 169]. How does this assessment apply to the marriages mentioned above?

13. From the almost unimaginable cruelty of John Voss's parents to Mrs. Whiting's coldness toward Cindy, to Grace's withdrawal from David (and to some extent Miles) when she joins the Whiting household, the novel contains several examples of the emotional and physical harm parents inflict on their children. Why do you think Russo made this a central theme of the book? Does it adequately explain or even justify behavior you would otherwise find completely unacceptable?

14. Empire Falls traces three very different families——the Whitings, the Robys, and the Mintys——through several generations. What do each of these families represent in the context of American society? How do their fates embody the economic and social changes that have occurred over the last century? To what extent are the members of the current generation trapped by the past?

15. What does Empire Falls provide that its residents might not be able to find anywhere else? Does living in a small town necessarily limit the satisfaction people get out of life? Is Miles right when he thinks, "After all, what was the whole wide world but a place for people to yearn for their hearts' impossible desires, for those desires to become entrenched in defiance of logic, plausibility, and even the passage of time" [p. 295]? Which characters might have led better, more fulfilling lives if they had moved away from Empire Falls?

16. In contemplating the past year, Tick reflects, "Just because things happen slow doesn't mean you'll be ready for them. If they happened fast, you'd be alert for all kinds of suddenness. . . . ‘‘Slow' works on an altogether different principle, on the deceptive impression that there's plenty of time to prepare" [p. 441] How does this relate to the novel as a whole and the way it is structured? Why has Russo chosen Tick to express this insight

17. What adjectives would you use to describe Empire Falls? How does Russo make the story of a dying town (with more than its share of losers) entertaining and engaging? Did you find most, if not all, of the characters sympathetic in some way?

* Some questions have been incorporated from the Barnes and Noble web site