Amy Falls Down begins with the story of a woman in her 60's living a very quiet life. She has her books, her dog, her online writing course, and she is content enough. A small accident changes all that forcing her not only to question her present lifestyle, but also her practice of not really living within her lifestyle. She is forced into the limelight and back into the present. I really enjoyed the majority of the novel. The character of Amy is charming, witty, and quirky. Too bad the author w...

I don't know if this happens to other people, but I have this weird thing sometimes where right after I finish a book I think one thing about it (it's rad, it blew, it needed work, the author's a pretentious prick, etc.), but then, many moons hence, I remember it in a totally different way. Example: When I read The Corrections I thought it was fine, but now I violently, violently hate it. Or: I loaned my friend Megan The Thieves of Manhattan and was all "Oh this was a fun one," but then she

BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front), folks: I love this book and I want to recommend it to everyone, especially those who are seriously wide-read, "bookish" people who have at least some familiarity with the literary scene, writers' workshops, and the angst of being an aspiring writer (or even a published one).Next, I want to say that if this book puts you off because of the pink cover and all the people who have shelved it as "chick-lit" — ignore that nonsense. Jincy Willett only writes "chick-lit" if

Amy Gallup, the endearingly cynical protagonist of Jincy Willett’s new novel, would be disgruntled to hear herself referred to as “wickedly funny”, or “savagely ferocious.” Those are just a few of the overused adjectives that she calls out as being in the modern reviewer’s modest arsenal.It doesn’t take long to recognize that this book is a set-up of the book industry and its precarious relationship with its writers and readers. When Amy takes a fall and bangs her head on a birdbath, she is sudd...

I first heard about this book while reading Dear Fahrenheit 451: A Librarian's Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to the Books in Her Life and the description really caught my attention. I wanted to read something light this week while preparing for my first exam in MANY MANY years and it was the perfect choice.Amy has a bit of a literary legacy. In her youth she wrote a few masterpieces and then disappeared into obscurity. And she could not be more thrilled about that. Now in her 60’s Amy successf...

I was really looking forward to reading this book. It started out with promise. Then, I suddenly found it excruciating to read. Really! It took me upwards of 3 weeks to read this, and it was only because I didn't want to give up. It never takes me that long to read a book! I kept thinking, it's got to get better!! I dreaded sitting down to read it and did everything I could to avoid it. It was drab, wordy, and unnecessary. The author spoke in, what I call, $3.00 words. Constantly using these ela...

4.5+ stars. Hilarious book with a delightfully prickly narrator. Several times I snorted out loud; even my daughter said she’s never heard me do that. Amy Gallup is an aging, semi-reclusive writer who hits her head on a birdbath and accidental fame ensues. I can see how reviewers might quibble with Amy being an “unlikeable” character and I think the author would agree; that’s the whole point. She’s a grumpy old man – funny in spite of herself. And her basset hound is an awesome character in his

How do I describe Jincy Willett's latest book? By saying she is one of the most brilliant and under-appreciated authors alive today? By comparing her snarky wit to that of Dorothy Parker and David Sedaris? By describing my reading process when it comes to a book this good (continually pausing to savor what I just read and keep from racing through too quickly)? Whatever I say won't be enough: "Amy Falls Down" is a brilliant follow-up to her equally engrossing "The Writing Class" (stop reading thi...

Hilariously funny, while still managing to be moving and insightfulThis book is so funny I kept losing my place because I was laughing so hard, and I almost never laugh out loud while reading. Amy Gallup is an aging, has-been novelist, who never really broke through to the big time anyway, but that’s fine with her. Amy embraces her uncompromising lack of ambition and, far from seeking fame, she arranges her life for complete anonymity, even burying links to her out of print novels behind a serie...

Dog-lovers will love this book! Alphonse, the basset hound, may be the real star of the story.Women my age (and younger), especially those who teach writers or coach writers, should like this book, especially if they are somewhat cynical about the publishing industry.Yes, Amy Gallup literally falls down. She hits her head on the birdbath in her garden. That leads to her being rediscovered as a writer.Oh, and Amy’s someone to know…she hates planes, loves trains, was in college in 1967 and is some...

The humor in this kept making me snort out loud. Amy Gallup is a reclusive writer in her 60s, alone except for her basset hound. She lives an interior life, full of ruminations on stuff like the intricate way her basset hound cleans his paws. After hitting her head on a birdbath in the backyard and suffering a concussion, Amy gives an out-of-character interview to a local reporter, and then when the story comes out in the paper, she has no recollection of saying any of the eccentric things writt...

I’m not sure what category this book should fall into: fantasy, chic-lit, humor??? I started this book really liking it. It’s a story of an author who is reclusive and loves her life in anonymity. An unknown reporter from a local San Diego paper requests an interview with her, and she begrudgingly agrees as long as no photos are taken. Before the interview, she decides to do some garden work, falls down and hits her head on a bird bath. Next thing she remembers, is a flash in her face as the rep...

I loved, loved, loved this book. As our heroine, Amy Gallup discovered, timing is everything. I began reading this book, quite prophetically, days before I fell down and sprained my knee and I then devoured the book in the day that followed while lying in bed recuperating. Jincy Willett always can be counted on to make me laugh--and I needed a laugh--but she is also insightful and occasionally profound. Willett is a writers' writer. Yes, her sentences are elegant, her word choices interesting an...

I usually read in a fairly narrow comfort zone, containing mostly urban fantasy, science fiction, feminist theory and memoir, and some popular histories. I rarely read lit-fic, because most of it feels either pretentious or obvious, at least to me, accustomed as I am to wizards and intricate magical systems. There are no wizards or magic in Amy Falls Down, but I loved it to little tiny pieces.This is a sort of sequel to what I believe was Jincy Willet's last novel, The Writing Class, about murde...

Book #50 Read in 2013Amy Falls Down by Jincy WillettAmy is a writer...well, she used to be but she hasn't written anything in years. She is more famous for a writing group where one of the members tried to kill people. Then she has an accident in her back yard, hitting her head on a birdbath, and when she comes to, a reporter is leaving her house and Amy has no recollection of what she had said. The article comes out and Amy is made out to be a wonderfully eccentric talent, when in reality she h...

I wanted to love this book as it was recommended to me, I assume, based on my incredible enthusiasm for Where’d You Go, Bernadette?. Amy is a has-been writer and a recluse who becomes a viral phenomenon after she speaks with a reporter while experiencing concussion symptoms. What transpires after this initial moment of internet fame is often quite funny. So many of the characters – Amy, her elderly agent, various talk radio personalities, and particularly her dog, Alphonse – were clearly envisio...

I think I'd put this book on my to-read list because it was supposed to be funny. Certainly it did have me laughing at times, but it's not a light-hearted funny, more of a serious look at the absurdity of your life funny.Amy is an older writer, she had some success in her 20's but has been pretty dormant after the death of her 1st husband and a few other misfortunes, subsisting on the proceeds of her online writing courses. When one day she falls down, hits her head on the birdbath in her back y...

Amy Gallop's life motto is the same as that of the honey badger - she really doesn't give a S@*t. Gallop thinks she's far past the prime of her life, spending her days with her aging basset hound, Alphonse, and holding online classes for wannabe writers. An accident in her back yard causes her to black out - and she gives an outrageous interview to a local reporter who's discovered Amy's distant past as a lesser-known-but-well-respected author. Adventures ensue as she spirals into the public con...

Jincy,Jincy,Jincy-I love that name and really enjoy her writing! I'm not sure how I heard about this author but I'm really glad I did. Her humor is very dry, witty, sometimes dark but always clever and it doesn't sound contrived. It reads as though her thoughts are just tumbling out one after another. This book is not just about her humor. It's very much about writing. The main character Amy, is a writer so the novel is filled with ideas and various scenarios regarding writing. It's almost like

Thank you Bookclub for choosing this book. I don't think I would have stumbled upon this amazing writer on my own and I certainly would not have picked it by the title. The protagonist, Amy Gallup is one of the richest, most insightful, not to mention clever and hysterical characters I have ever met and I feel like her words (and there are many) will stay with me for a long time.Maybe it is because she and I share the same demographics, or that we both live with an aggressive internal dialogue a...