I have read all 10 of Richard Russo’s novels and all four of his short story collections. I would recommend them to any reader, any time. So, please believe me when I say that I was befuddled when reading Russo’s new novel, Under the Falls, and experienced a creeping sense of disconnection and dissatisfaction ... This other book simply did not work for me. It jettisoned everything I thought was coming for something else. Even as I adjusted to what the book was attempting, it all felt at odds with Russo’s amazing gift for character interiority grounded in place.
I saw that Tyler could just as easily have been a mixed martial artist or an Instagram influencer, as the specifics of his character have nothing to do with the book’s simple goal. After the concert, a major accident upends Tyler’s life, and all that matters from Page 56 on are some secrets that will be revealed in dribs and drabs over the next 180 pages ... In TV and movies, the race of an actor can signal nuances of characterization, even if it isn’t explicitly addressed. It’s more disconcerting when a novelist points out a character’s race multiple times and conveys that it distances her from others, yet never attends to her Blackness in meaningful detail. One can engage with race (or not) and end up missing the mark. But starting and stopping short has far worse effects.
This is Russo’s shortest novel and his most clipped and dramatic one, too ... An unusually brisk thriller that plunges into Russo’s signature exploration of small-town decline, resentment, and guilt.
