Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories | Lesley Nneka Arimah
A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection explores the ties that bind mothers and daughters and men and women to one another and to the places they call home. Lesley Arimah emigrated from Nigeria to Louisiana at the age of thirteen, a disorienting transition that left her keenly attuned to the shock waves set in motion by displacement. In these twelve powerful stories that embrace magical-realist elements while deploying a powerfully empathetic understanding of character and circumstance, she explores how parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends, navigate conflicting cultures and struggle to reconcile conflicting desires, wants, and needs. In The Future Looks Good, three generations of women are haunted by the ghosts of war. In Second Chances, a daughter greets her mother's return from the dead with disbelief and anger. Wild revolves around a teenager on a visit back to Nigeria and the tenuous sisterhood she and her cousin attain after a disastrous night out shifts them onto uneasy new ground. A woman desperate for a child weaves one out of hair, with unsettling results, in Who Will Greet You at Home. In Light, a father grapplesmovingly and humorouslywith how best to raise, protect, and empower his young daughter. And in the title story, a world ravaged by flood, filled with refugees, and carved by class, a formula has been discovered that allows experts to fix the equation of a personwith rippling, unforeseen repercussions. Evocative, playful, defiant, and incredibly human, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky heralds the arrival of a prodigious talent with a remarkable career ahead of her. From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
blurb
Booksandtea23
post image

One of my favorite books of short stories 😇

4 likes1 stack add
blurb
readordierachel
post image

Was assigned this story in a class I'm taking: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/skinned

It imagines a society where "unclaimed" women are required to be naked. It's very good and worth reading ?? Lots to think about. It's not in Litsy, so I'm tagging her book of short stories, which I read a few years ago and highly recommend!

BarbaraBB Thanks for sharing. That sounds great. 3y
60 likes1 comment
review
Pinta
post image
Pickpick

An uneven collection, some stories feeling like unformed snippets of gossip. But WHO WILL GREET YOU AT HOME is so confident & masterful, an allegory on childrearing & motherhood & the pressure to create the perfect child. Dark magic & desperation. Title story also strong, with “grief workers” who calculate & extract emotions from grieving citizens after catastrophic climate upheaval. Some memorable stories, some meh, but strong ones=yesyesyes.2017

review
arkei
Pickpick

★★★★★
A lovely collection. Considering the collection title symbolically—a man falling from a place of untouchable height and dominating visibility, there's this tension that rises up in every story as it focuses on women, their status and their relationship with what surrounds them. I love how each story began and how each took me to an evocative end.

arkei Emotions for each story

😲😟 : THE FUTURE LOOKS GOOD
🤔🙂 : WAR STORIES
😠🤨 : WILD
🙂 : LIGHT
😖 : SECOND CHANCES
😡🤬 : WINDFALLS
🤔🤨 : WHO WILL GREET YOU AT HOME
😞 : BUCHI‘S GIRLS
😱😢 : WHAT IT MEANS WHEN A MAN FALLS FROM THE SKY
🙌🏽😬 : GLORY
🤨 : WHAT IS A VOLCANO?
🙂😢 : REDEMPTION
3y
arkei #booksandteabc Small Stories 3y
7 likes2 comments
quote
arkei

“Five hundred thousand dollars, baby. That‘s my girl.”

- “Windfalls“

arkei This story 😠🤬💔😭 3y
3 likes1 comment
quote
arkei

I listened with every atom and she animated the story with everything she had.

- “War Stories“

quote
arkei

“If you can‘t please the gods, trick them.”

- “Glory“

arkei Honestly, this collection is ♥ 3y
3 likes1 comment
quote
arkei

Girls with fire in their bellies will be forced to drink from a well of correction till the flames die out.

- “Redemption“

arkei #TIL
• Till means the same thing as until.
• Till is not an abbreviation of until—it‘s actually older than until—and it should not be written with an apostrophe.

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/until-till-til/

I thought it was wrong.
3y
3 likes1 comment
blurb
arkei

#reading

And hello, Litsy! 👋🏽

night_shift Hello! Welcome to Litsy!! 3y
arkei @UnidragonFrag Thank you! 3y
wanderinglynn Welcome to Litsy! 👋🏻 3y
See All 8 Comments
DrexEdit Hello! Welcome to Litsy! The tagged book is on my TBR. I will be interested to hear your thoughts about it! 😊 👍🌞 3y
arkei @wanderinglynn Thank you! 👋🏽 3y
arkei @DrexEdit Hi! So far, the stories are good. But I didn't read it in order—just went to the chapters that catch my interest. Title story is really emotional. Thanks! 3y
Nute Welcome to Litsy! It‘s a warm and friendly community. I know that you will enjoy yourself here. I‘m looking forward to getting to know you!🙂 3y
arkei @Nute Thank you! 😊 3y
5 likes1 stack add8 comments
review
night_shift
post image
Pickpick

I picked this up for #ReadingAfrica week (week of the 6th, I'm late) not realizing it was a collection of short stories, but mostly because I found the title interesting. Most of these stories were really strong. The title story had me wishing for a full length set in that world, but I also liked 'Who Will Greet You at Home' which was a very strange one about hair babies and emotions as currency & 'Windfalls' which was unsettling/horrifying.

review
crhealey
post image
Pickpick

Finished this beautiful collection and am now catching up on the YouTube discussion for “Read a Book with Kara”

This collection gets 5 ⭐️ because it is full of lines like this. #shortstories #africandiaspora #diversespines #virtualbookclub

blurb
crhealey
post image

Starting this book late at night and last minute for “Read a Book with Kara” over on Instagram. Was only going to read one story tonight because 😴😴😴 but the first one was so good, I might have to go for two.

Everyone should go follow Kara Brown on Twitter and Instagram because she is 💯

#nowreading #virtualbookclub

review
bridge12
post image
Pickpick

Holy crap I fell completely in love with this collection of short stories! I‘m not sure why I haven‘t always been a fan of short stories but this was beautifully written and had it all. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

I read this as part of Kara Brown‘s new book club, if you‘d like to join along go to www.readabookwithkara.com

review
tholmz
post image
Pickpick

Phenomenal.

review
KailaSimone
Mehso-so

The stories in this collection are very unique, and at times so disturbing that I no longer wanted to read them. Quite a few of them felt like a punch to the gut, and I‘d have to take a break before diving into the next story. However, I appreciated the Afro-futurism and the portrayal of many different relationships. Lesley has a gift at weaving together new and magical worlds that kept me intrigued despite my discomfort.

review
sarahlandis
Pickpick

absolutely loved these stories!

review
lovelybookshelf
post image
Pickpick

These stories are intensely, wildly imaginative and original. I never knew where they were headed or what would turn up. Every single story in the collection is memorable and stood out from the others in its own way. This is a must-read for fans of short stories and fabulism.

review
GabriellaPalmieri
post image
Pickpick

In Washington DC this weekend for the Women‘s March and staying right next to a bookstore! Had to pick up a new read for the way home. Can‘t wait to start!

1 like1 stack add
blurb
Tianarose
post image

Had this one on hold for a while. Loving it so far.

review
GatheringBooks
post image
Pickpick

#RedRoseSeptember Day 21: Fats did a round up of women writers from #AllAroundTheWorld, specifically from the US, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Argentina through these five amazing novels for our #WomenReadWomen2019 theme. See more here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-jME

arlenefinnigan Excellent picture! 5y
Cinfhen I think I want to read them ALL 5y
63 likes2 comments
blurb
Caterina
post image

#BookFitnessChallenge #BFC @wanderinglynn : morning run/walk, then weight machine workout, then stretch class! Feeling better from that headache at last! 😊

Got my stitches out!! 🎉🎉 Don't have to go back until July!

Listened to this short story with my mom on the way back from the appointment and shopping while we were in the city. The book was one of my favorite reads of 2017, wonderful to revisit the title story. ❤️

rockpools I loved this book too. Hope you heal up nice and quickly now. 5y
BookwormAHN Sounds like a nice day 👏🏻 5y
wanderinglynn Way to go! 🙌🏻 So glad you‘re healing well. 💚 5y
29 likes3 comments
review
aeeklund
post image
Pickpick

This short story collection is masterful, having a LOT to say about women today. It captures the tolls that “growing up” takes on a girl, that war bleeds from a person, and that a small decision or mistake can have on a life. And it does all this in absolutely gorgeous language. The audiobook, especially, is amazing, the stories perfectly navigated by Adjoa Andoh. LOVED it.

LiteraryinPA Great review! 5y
31 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
ephemeralwaltz
post image
Pickpick

• What It Means when a Man Falls from the Sky (2017 by Lesley Nneka Arimah

What a powerful debut collection! I'm not one for stories but collections like this make me yearn for more. Arimah explores, halfway between America and Nigeria, the lives of vivid characters, mostly women, trying to make sense of the challenging world around them and, more importantly, make way. She even throws in a fable style story and some dystopia for good measure.

ephemeralwaltz (Photo taken from NPR website) 6y
Trashcanman 👀👋 6y
See All 6 Comments
Eyelit Yes! I‘m halfway through (got sidetracked by some graphic novels due back at the library 😂) and loving it so far! 6y
Weaponxgirl This sounds awesome 👏 6y
81 likes4 stack adds6 comments
blurb
Eyelit
post image

This weekend was jam packed with housecleaning, taxes, and volunteering. These are my well deserved (imho) evening plans. 😁

TheBookgeekFrau I agree - well deserved!! Enjoy😊 6y
BibliOphelia 😳😳 Does that candle say............ Sunnydale Library?!?! 😍😍😍 6y
Eyelit @BibliOphelia indeed it does. It‘s from this Etsy store that specializes in geeky candles (bubbles and geek is the name, I think) 6y
See All 6 Comments
BibliOphelia Must explore...thanks! 6y
ephemeralwaltz Looks good! 6y
monalyisha #buffyforever 😉🖤⚰️ 6y
110 likes1 stack add6 comments
review
Jadams89
post image
Pickpick

This is a unique collection of stories with very relatable characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ephemeralwaltz I just started this one! I'm not one for short stories but these are magical.. 6y
Jadams89 @ephemeralwaltz I loved them! I‘ve been trying to read more short stories lately because they‘re quick reads. 6y
39 likes2 comments
blurb
Eyelit
post image

It‘s been a while since I‘ve done a monthly #tbr - but in an effort to make a serious dent in my #mttbr pile (and end my book buying ban sooner rather than later 😄) I‘m going to try to set aside a stack of books from my shelves each month going forward - and try to read at least 1/2 of that stack before touching library books... we‘ll see how that goes 🤣

Here‘s the February stack. Most excited about Pride and tagged book.

Julsmarshall Loved Pride! 6y
ephemeralwaltz Currently reading What it means when a man falls from the sky! Let me know your thoughts. I'll tag you in mine. 6y
Eyelit @ephemeralwaltz deal! 😃 6y
102 likes3 comments
review
Angitron
post image
Pickpick

A solid collection of short stories, many of them focused on familial relationships. The title story was one of my favorites, simply for the fascinating/terrifying future presented (US and Europe are completely underwater, forcing white majorities to resettle in brown/black countries; a biological weapon that targets melanin; tattoos that denote class and restrict or expand where you travel), and I hope she develops them into a full-length story!

hermyknee Great review! 6y
Angitron @hermyknee Thank you! 😊 6y
32 likes2 stack adds2 comments
blurb
LitDrivenGirl
post image

Stack reveal for @24in48!! Remember it's important to read in all formats always, but especially during the Readathon because your eyes and mind need the break. So this is my physical stack, but I will be reading digitally as well and of course changing it up with audiobooks too 😊. Sounds like this time around (my third go) I may even be doing some reading aloud with Mum. Anyone else participating in the #24IN48Readathon?!?

Shibbyfruitfly Me! 😁 I‘ll post my official stack tonight since I got 2 book boxes in the mail today. And since Bird Box is one of the audiobooks, our stacks have 2 books in common! 6y
15 likes1 comment
review
85eliana
Pickpick

If you‘re up for an excellent series of intense stories with hues of Afro-futurism, fantasy, and sci-if, this collection is for you!

review
cocomass
post image
Pickpick

Just finished this collection of stories and LOVED it. Favorites include the titular story as well as “War Stories,” “Who Will Greet You at Home,” and “Glory”. It‘s tough in that so-much-of-girlhood-is-about-suffering way, but it‘s also (darkly) funny. So glad I read this and am looking forward to her next work!!

#blacklitsy

Megabooks Oh yeah, it is so good! 💜 6y
readordierachel I loved this one too! 6y
cocomass @megabooks @readordierachel and it‘s only her first book! That‘s always so exciting to me 🤗 6y
41 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
krismlars
post image
Pickpick

Flashback to last Saturday at the Boston Book Festival. I read this book in its entirety on a flight last year. I was honored to meet Lesley!

blurb
Liberty
post image

Day 6 of the @bookriot #Riotgrams challenge: naked covers! A few pretties! (The book on the left is Anthony Bourdain‘s book about Typhoid Mary.)❤️📚

blurb
Liberty
post image

Day 5 of the @bookriot #Riotgrams challenge: fall reads! I went with “falls” reads. Also, I‘m willing to bet these two titles aren‘t photographed together very often. 😂❤️📚

Gezemice Gravity Falls has a comic? Awesome! 6y
92 likes4 stack adds1 comment
review
whatrebeccasread
post image
Panpan

I didn't enjoy this collection of short stories. Each story felt unfinished & underwhelming & I found that I couldn't connect with anything I was reading. Like joining a conversation somewhere in the middle where you're not 100% what's going on, these stories seemed more like snippets from a wider story. I didn't hate it, some stories were good, so it's 2 stars from me.

My full review is up on my blog now! 📚

Reviewsbylola I almost always feel that way about short stories. 😐 6y
83 likes1 comment
quote
Ansia
post image

3 likes1 stack add
review
ladyneverwhere
post image
Pickpick

Perfect beach day. Perfect book of short stories.

blurb
Ansia
post image

Short-story gold.

"'When Enebeli Okwara sent his girl out in the world, he did not know what the world did to daughters'. The daughters, wives and mothers in Lesley Nneka Arimah's remarkable debut collection find themselves in extraordinary situations. What unites them is the toughness of the world they inhabit, a world where the future is uncertain, opportunities are scant, and fortunes change quicker than the flick of a switch."

review
alisonrose
Pickpick

Such an inventive & original story collection, I‘m glad I gave it a try! Love how the author varies between realistic & semi-fantastical, and her voice comes through just as well in either case. My favorite stories were Wild and Second Chances. As is almost always the case w/short stories, one or two were not quite as strong, but none that I would call misses. I hope she writes a novel one day because I‘d love to see what she‘d do with it. 4/5 ⭐️

quote
alisonrose
post image

40 likes1 stack add
quote
alisonrose

When Enebeli Okwara sent his girl out in the world, he did not know what the world did to daughters. He did not know how quickly it would wick the dew off her, how she would be returned to him hollowed out, relieved of her better parts.

quote
alisonrose

My mother was a small woman who carried her weight in her personality.

blurb
alisonrose
post image

I‘m not a big short story reader, usually because I hate when the stories are of wildly varying lengths. (Also when a “story” is like 3 pages. No.) But these look reasonably close enough for the most part, LOL. Plus I‘ve heard nothing but good things about it! #nowreading

46 likes1 stack add
quote
lauren.lerner
post image

This is the first time the girl becomes aware that the world requires something other than what she is. It dampens her for a few days that worry Enebeli, and then she returns, but there is a little less light to her.

readordierachel A striking passage in a wonderful book 👍🏼 6y
33 likes1 comment
blurb
lauren.lerner
post image

Today‘s afternoon reads with a cup of tea made possible by baby Motrin (#teething) and naptime. • #shortfiction #diversereads #currentlyreading

review
Suelizbeth
post image
Pickpick

It took me a while to read this collection of short stories because I wasn‘t quite sure of how it made me feel. Once I got into the style of the stories and the rhythm of the story telling, it flowed easier. Each story has an unexpected, sometimes gruesome, often ambiguous, never happy ending. Not every story is a favorite, hence only ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️#24B4Monday @TheReadingMermaid

Andrew65 Going well! 👍 6y
61 likes1 comment
blurb
Tashreads
post image

#currentlyreading

Side note: I think I may be overusing this background. It‘s a canvas my son painted, he is awaiting inspiration on what to add to it. I love it as is 😍. Ps: he is 6 😂😂😂

BarbaraTheBibliophage What a great achievement for your son! I hope you‘ll share it again when he makes his decision. 💙 6y
Rissreads Yes I would love to see what he comes up with! 6y
Rissreads I just read up on this book, it sounds fantastic! 6y
Nute Is this out in paperback now? I love the canvas that your son painted. I see talent in that young artist. Please continue to share his work.👍🏽 6y
readordierachel Such a great book, and great artwork by your son! 6y
92 likes2 stack adds5 comments
review
Afua
post image
Pickpick

Utterly gut-wrenching. Had me in total shambles. Had my hand over my chest almost the whole way through.
These stories dart deftly across continents and genres making this book a potent capsule of gripping speculative prose and cruel reality.

Totally loved it. Can you tell? Lol!

ephemeralwaltz Yes yes yes! This is an outstanding collection. 6y
Afua @ephemeralwaltz It really is!! 5y
6 likes1 stack add2 comments