Written in a strong western voice, which I didn't even know was a thing till I read this book. :) Just couldn't get into it.

Fictional but could've happened story of a young man raised on a ranch, leaving that life to try Hollywood. He gets the chance to ride in the Western films being made during the late 30's. Bud Frazer meets Lily Shaw on a bus headed down the west coast. They pursue their respective dreams, finding the cruelty that goes w/ them. Its amazing how sad and lonely it can be.

Good book; didn't love it.

I was torn between a 3 and 4 on this one. For about 80% of the book, I'd have given a 4. Gloss lost steam in the final stretch and the book didn't have an ending that matched the rest. I'd read her again, certainly.

Summer reading book reviews, book #10, "Falling From Horses" by Molly Gloss.... This is a beautifully written tale centered around Bud, a boy growing up on a ranch in the 1920s and 1930s, who then moves to Hollywood in 1938 to work with horses in cowboy movies. The spare, poetic style reminds me both of other work by Molly Gloss and of the Norwegian author, Per Petterson. The book shifts from sections narrated by Bud (starting with his bus journey to Hollywood in 1938), and third-person sections set in the 1920s and 1930s that concern Bud's parents at least as much as Bud. I particularly love the voice of Bud-as-narrator, who, many years later, looks back on himself as a boy. I love the prose, the characters, the story itself. This is easily the best book I have read so far this summer, but it is deeper, harsher, less straightforwardly pleasurable than Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series. I note that characters in Molly Gloss's earlier book, "The Hearts of Horses," resurface here, but "Falling From Horses" can be read on its own.

It took me a while to make a connection with the characters, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading this book. And by the end of the book, a few tears were even shed.

This was an incredible read. It’s just the type of book I’ve been searching for, and happened upon it by accident. I was worried when reviewers said it was sad and they were bawling; this book is filled with emotion, and I suspect it has to settle with me longer to fully express how it made me feel. The writing was beautiful, the story and characters and setting- it was all perfect and poignant. It was a book about horses, but not a trite romance novel or cliche western, which was different and engaging and surprising. I will be reading all of Molly Glass’s works. This was memorable and the best book I’ve read this year, one of the best I’ve read in a while.

Read this for a book group but didn't get to discuss it.

Loved that much of this story took place in Oregon! While Gloss is a fine writer, I felt it was overly detailed in describing the technicalities of film making, yet could use more heft fleshing out the main characters and their inner lives.