Would recommend: Maybe

This book meandered along at a moderate tempo until it slammed on the accelerator in the last quarter. I was completely caught off guard. Up until that point, I was practically sedated by the comfortable, townie characters -- in a good way, I think -- but that last quarter of the book left me shaken and disconcerted. Ultimately, I don't know how much change occurred. The small town, its inhabitants, and mindsets seemed to stay the same, with the exception of some hard lessons and sad losses. I was sad to leave the characters behind, but I didn't mind getting out of Empire Falls.

Before I read this book, a friend told me that Richard Russo won the Pulitzer for it because he simply didn't win it for any of his prior works, even though it was widely held that Empire Falls was not his strongest. After reading it, I am curious to read his other books to see what else he's got up his sleeve.