MICHAEL CHRISTIE received an MFA from the University of British Columbia and is a former professional skateboarder. His first book, The Beggar's Garden, was a finalist for a number of major Canadian prizes and the winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award. He lives with his family on Galiano Island, British Columbia. If I Fall, If I Die is his U.S. debut.
If I Fall, If I Die: A Novel
eBook
-
ISBN-13:
9780804140812
- Publisher: Crown/Archetype
- Publication date: 01/20/2015
- Sold by: Random House
- Format: eBook
- Pages: 288
- File size: 2 MB
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A heartfelt and wondrous debut about family, fear, and skateboarding, that Karen Russell calls "A bruiser of a tale . . . a death-defying coming-of-age story."
Will has never been outside, at least not since he can remember. And he has certainly never gotten to know anyone other than his mother, a fiercely loving yet wildly eccentric agoraphobe who drowns in panic at the thought of opening the front door. Their world is rich and loving, full of art, experiments, and music—but confined to their small house.
But Will’s thirst for adventure can’t be contained. Clad in a protective helmet and unsure of how to talk to other kids, he finally ventures outside. With the help of an artistic loner who introduces Will to the high-flying freedom of skateboarding, Will is pulled far from the confines of his closed-off world and thrust headfirst into the throes of early adulthood and the dangers that everyday life offers.
In buoyant, kinetic prose, Michael Christie has written an emotionally resonant and keenly observed novel about mothers and sons, fears and risks, and the lengths we’ll go for those we love.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Christie, whose debut collection won the City of Vancouver Book Award, makes his first U.S. appearance with a coming-of-age debut novel. The former professional skateboarder's young hero, long confined to home by an agoraphobic mother, finds his way in the world by making a friend who teaches him to skate.
"An astonishing piece of work. Christie combines lyrical prose and true-to-life charactersand skateboardingto craft a remarkable tale of mothers and sons, and what it means to grow up." —Philipp Meyer
"Rarely has the tender claustrophobia of the mother-son dynamic, the raw humanity of mental illness, or the delicate, dangerous process of growing up been rendered with such heart and sensitivity. If I Fall, If I Die mines the fundamental dilemmas of both childhood and parenthood to sublime effect. I can't recall a funnier, truer or more beautiful debut.” - Patrick DeWitt