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!

Hunt once again shows that he can describe anything within an inch of its life. No one creates a photorealistic image with words like him. A day in the life in Indiana…nothing happens. That checks out. You could use this in a history class AND a literature class.

Each of these stories is very much an intimate glimpse into a day in a life and I couldn't look away from any of them. Hunt is a masterful storyteller in any format, and I highly recommend picking up these stories!

This is my first read for this author. I enjoy a day in the life style story so this book grabbed my interest right away. Simplicity and complexity flip flop throughout the stories. I feel I enjoyed the book. Yet I don't think I quite understood it. I'm left a bit confused at the end. I wonder if this is a book one needs to read more than one or with a book club or both.
You read it and let me know.

This collection of interconnected short stories is set in the same world as Zorrie. All the stories take place on a single summer day in the 1980s; each focuses on one of 14 characters—of all ages—in the small community. (Zorrie makes an appearance but isn’t a central character.) You see how their lives are connected, who’s keeping secrets from who, who is holding grudges and why, and also the tenderness and regret that lingers beneath the surface. The tone may be gentle but many of these are brutally sad, and also a quiet kind of beautiful.

This book is a masterclass on how to write short stories that are connected. I fell in love with these characters. I love how they all had a connection to Zorrie (A book I adored). These characters has so much personality and heart. These stories are funny and really showcase how most people are really good.

A beautiful collection full of interesting and realistically flawed characters. I think this author is something special and can't wait to continune reading thier work. The setting in this book was utterly captivating.

Remember Spoon River Anthology? Our Town? Laird Hunt has given us another fine book where small town residents - still very alive in this case - share their thoughts and feelings about their lives in small town America. This is a collection of short stories but reads like a novel because of the shared time and place. Highly recommended whether or not you've read the wonderful Zorrie.

super fun work. i totally loved the vibe, all the chars were so fun like oml :D felt a lot like some of those old shows like Andy Griffith. thanks so much for the arc, would recommend

I think this book will be enjoyed by many readers. I like the different chapters about different characters.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Float Up, Sing Down is a collection of 14 stories capturing one day of life in a rural Indiana town circa 1983. Each chapter is narrated by a different resident, and all are interconnected.

The first chapter introduces us to Candy Wilson, who has forgotten to buy paprika. The Bright Creek Girls Gaming Club is meeting at her house, and paprika is an essential ingredient for garnishing her famous deviled eggs. While she runs to the store, we are privy to her innermost thoughts about life in a small town, love, friendship and cooking (well, cooking in the 1980’s).

The book goes on to introduce other residents, their stories and the connection to the town. There are some interesting characters, but I found their stories to be bleak and dreary. Written as a stream of consciousness, it was sometimes hard to read as thoughts don’t always follow a linear pattern. Themes touch on a suicide that occurred, PTSD, unhappy marriages, unrequited loves, grudges and loneliness, though none are discussed in depth. There wasn’t an underlying expectation of better things. For instance, one character believes that if he can master wushu, he can conquer the world.

It left me sad.

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

Float Up, Sing Down is a quiet collection of short stories set in Indiana in the 1980's. Every story is told from the perspective of someone else living in this small town on the same day. Every story is introspective, reflective, and soft touching on themes of being lonely while still being very much so part of a thriving community.

I loved some of these stories, while others were a bit too slow moving for me. I recommend reading in the spring and summer months. I think it would really fit the mood!

Thank you NetGalley for a free e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Laird Hunt's "Float Up, Sing Down" is a tapestry of life in its most nuanced forms, a collection of stories that captures a single day in an Indiana community, resonating with the quiet depth and richness of everyday experiences. This collection stands as a testament to Hunt's mastery in crafting short fiction that delves into the intricacies of human life, reminiscent of the works of Willa Cather and Elizabeth Strout.

Each of the fourteen stories in this collection is a vignette, offering a window into the lives of the residents of this rural town. From Candy Wilson's forgetfulness about paprika to Della Dorner's secret destination on her new Schwinn five-speed, Hunt captures the small yet significant moments that make up the fabric of daily existence. The stories are beautifully interwoven, showcasing the interconnectedness of lives within a community. Gossip, routine, joy, and regret are all explored with a gentle yet profound touch, highlighting the shared humanity of the characters.

Hunt's prose is exquisite, marked by its clarity and elegance. He has a unique ability to draw the reader into the world he creates, making the mundane mesmerizing and the ordinary extraordinary. The stories are imbued with a sense of place so strong that the community itself emerges as a character, alive with its own rhythms and secrets.

However, the subtlety of the narratives might not cater to all readers. Those looking for dramatic plot developments or sensational twists may find "Float Up, Sing Down" a departure from their usual fare. The strength of this collection lies in its quiet revelations and the introspective journey it offers.

In "Float Up, Sing Down," Laird Hunt has created a symphony of souls, a portrait of loneliness and community that celebrates the extraordinary within the ordinary. This collection is a masterful exploration of the American experience, offering a rich and satisfying reading experience to those who appreciate literary fiction and the beauty of short stories.

This book has a simple premise - a day in the life of the residents of a small town - and executes it brilliantly, with great feeling. It reminds the reader of what can happen when people tell the truth about who they are, and accept the realities of the life and people around them. The feelings of community and potential community also abound, making this a hopeful read during a time when so many people feel isolated and lonely.

Zorrie was so-well written so involving I was so excited to read Laird Hunts latest.I loved Float Up Sing down .A group of short stories involving residents of a small town .I was immediately drawn in and enjoyed from beginning to the last page.Highly recommend.#netgalley #bloomsbury.

Nicely done. I live in Indiana, so that made this a little more interesting for me. Nonetheless, I think most readers that like well written short stories will like this collection. Hunt has a lot of talent.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

As background, I absolutely adored ZORRIE. It was one of my top 3 books the year I read it. With that background in mind, I was excited to learn of this short story collection, especially since I read a lot of story collections. I'm delighted to say that FLOAT UP, SING DOWN exceeded even my very high expectations. Laird Hunt is such a talented writer, and in this collection we meet a cast of memorable characters living their everyday - and yet meaningful and memorable - lives. The writing is beautiful and literary and the plots, while quiet, astonish with their depth. I love stories that make the characters feel like real people, and this collection is likely to be my favorite of the year.

𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐔𝐩, 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 (pub 02.06) Thank you to @bloomsbury and @netgalley for the early access.

I recently read 𝘡𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦 (same author) because @chelseyreads listed it as “𝟻 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 ‘𝘛𝘰𝘮 𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦’” She was spot on with the comp. She then made me aware of this forthcoming collection of connected stories that take place in a small Indiana community over the course of one summer's day.

This slim novel was quiet, introspective, and full of simple pleasures. It was a slice-of-life story about very ordinary yet poignantly beautiful lives. While the aforementioned Zorrie makes an appearance, it isn’t focused on her. Each story features one of 14 characters, of all ages. I had a deeper affinity with the older characters yet felt a nostalgic pull towards the younger generation as well. While I only allowed myself to read one story per evening, I found myself thinking about these characters during the intervening hours.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4

My first introduction to Laird Hunt was through his civil war tale Neverhome, which I enjoyed tremendously. I was also very taken with Zorrie, which I read last year. So when the opportunity came to get an advance copy of short stories set in the same small Indiana town that Zorrie inhabits, I jumped at the chance.

Short stories rarely hold my interest the way novels do, but I stayed with this collection because all the characters were interwoven. Laird's writing style captures the internal lives of his characters. This means that spending time with these characters felt a bit disjointed, but that seems to be intentional. I gravitated more towards the older characters, and moved through the younger (more shattered interiors) of the young, to fill in the gaps.

All in all, I enjoyed the read and would recommend this to anyone who likes interwoven stories and the inner, everyday lives of characters.

Publishing date for this is 2/6/24.

Many thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest, unbiased review.

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.


Pub Date: 06 Feb 2024

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Bloomsbury USA, Bloomsbury Publishing