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Float Up, Sing Down

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Arrives Tuesday, Feb 17
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Description

Laird Hunt's masterful story collection capturing one summer's day in the Indiana community where the beloved National Book Award Finalist Zorrie bloomed. Candy Wilson has forgotten to buy the paprika. Turner Davis needs to get his zinnias in. Della Dorner told her mother she was going to the Galaxy Swirl, but that's not where she's really headed on her new Schwinn five-speed. Float Up, Sing Down is the story of a single day. But in that day, how much teeming life! The residents of this rural town have their routines, their preferences, their joys, grudges, and regrets. Gossip is paramount. Lives are entwined. Retired sheriffs climb corn bins and muse on lost love, French teachers throw firecrackers out of barn windows, and teenagers borrow motorcycles to ride the back roads. Each of the fourteen stories of Float Up, Sing Down follows one character's day in the life in one of Hunt's most beloved and enduring landscapes. In the tradition of Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Elizabeth Strout, and Edward P. Jones, this is a symphony of souls, a masterful portrait of both loneliness and community by one of our great limners of American experience. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Publishing (February 6, 2024)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639730109


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 00


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.05 x 0.8 x 8.65 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #242,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1,894 in Small Town & Rural Fiction (Books) #5,095 in Short Stories (Books) #13,798 in Literary Fiction (Books)


#1,894 in Small Town & Rural Fiction (Books):


#5,095 in Short Stories (Books):


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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Tuesday, Feb 17

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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Got in my head.
Float Up, Sing Down by Laird Hunt (2024) This fictional story is a relaxed read. Fourteen stories named after individuals living in a small town in rural Indiana, covering a mere 207 pages. It’s not epic. Doesn’t have to be. Feels real, remembered reality about men, women, teenagers, bikes and cars. As a California native I went to Indiana in 2003 to scatter some of my mother’s ashes on the grave of her father she didn’t know and had no memory of. I found my family surname widely scattered in the cemetery (a surname I’ve never seen in California). I like the way this tale plays out in one day at different locations at different times. Most lives take place in neighborhoods including bicycles, cars, soft drinks and ice cream swirls. And ultimately it’s like a dream, just like this book. I felt Indiana in this story. Every place deserves to be felt. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2024 by Rob in Santa Monica

  • Memories
If you grew up in Indiana in the 1940-50’s, you will relish this book as well as Zorrie, the author’s previous book. I rarely buy books but had to have a copy of both of these books to read and reread. It’s not a book to rush through but to savor the descriptions of characters, time periods, relationships, food, and setting. It is exactly what it was like to live in this area in a small town. I love the characters and the style of writing. It’s a book you can think hard on each sentence and visualize the circumstances. Bravo! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024 by Rose Ann Smith

  • Read WINESBURG instead
I read a review of FLOAT UP, SING DOWN in the Sunday paper. It sounded a lot like one of my favorite books, WINESBURG, OHIO by Sherwood Anderson. Like WINESBURG it’s about a specific town, Bright Creek, Indiana, in this case, and the people in it. Laird Hunt, the author selects a woman’s club and their relatives as his principal target. Most of his “stories” sound more like character sketches than anything else. Most left me scratching my head, thinking “What the heck was that about?” but several of the women stood out. I really liked Myrtle who loved to laugh. She gave her elementary teacher an orange, which Myrtle later found in the trash. As a result she refused to turn in her final assignment. Many years later, Myrtle learned her teacher was a resident in a nearby nursing home. She went to see her, bringing along the delinquent assignment which she still had. The old lady sneered, saying, “I give it an F!” Rather than strangle her, Myrtle let out an uproarious laugh. More people should be more like Myrtle. Myrtle also had a friend named Gladys whose husband is suffering from PTS or shell shock from his time in Vietnam. Gladys deals with it by working through the corn; she spends hours in there, targeting an old bridge. Myrtle, of course, agrees to pick her up after she reaches the bridge. Two other characters, Sugar (as in Sugar Ray Leonard) and Greg are in love with the same girl, Della, who works at the Galaxy Swirl with Greg. Sugar gets caught making out with Della. This solicits a visit from Hank Dunn, the former sheriff, her grandfather. Shudder. Laird Hunt was a finalist for the National Book of the Year award, but not for this book. I’d give it a pass. Read WINESBURG instead. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2024 by Dave Schwinghammer

  • A Wonderful Collection of Stories From the Author of 'Zorrie' Set in the Same Community
Fourteen stories shared from the perspective of many different people from the author of ’Zorrie’, this story takes place in the same community, and while Zorrie does make an appearance, this isn’t focused on her. For the most part, these stories reminded me of a mix between real life, and the lives of those who - fictionally - lived in Mayberry R.F.D. - home of the Andy Griffith show. This community, like Mayberry, is an old-fashioned community where everyone knows everyone else, and pretty much everything they do - especially those who are caught doing something their parents wouldn’t approve of. As with most short story collections, some will appeal more to some than to others, but all are worth reading. Many thanks for the ARC provided by Bloomsbury USA, Bloomsbury Publishing ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2024 by CS

  • Masterful and touching short story collection
Laird Hunt 's Float Up, Sing down is a masterful, touching collection of fourteen slice of life stories, each focusing on one character. There aren't many secrets in a small town where everybody has known each other since they were kids. There's Turner Davis, a zinnia loving retired school janitor with a secret passion for ballroom dancing. Horace Allen reminds us of the power of scent to raise memories. Gladys Bacon, tired of her husband Vernon literally hiding in the closet, finds wandering the corn fields as good a medicine as any pill. And my favorite, Hank Dunn, the retired sheriff, pushing 90, still able to climb to the top of the corn silo to enjoy the view and let his memories percolate. Laird Hunt's stories about ordinary people are anything but ordinary. The richness of her writing reminds me of Richard Russo. That's high praise indeed! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024 by Laura R.

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