OSHER 566 - Empire Falls: The Genius of Richard Russo

Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter, Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school. Or Janine, Miles's soon-to-be ex-wife, who has taken up with a noxiously vain health club proprietor. Or the imperious Francine Whiting, who owns everything in town--and believes that includes Miles himself. In "Empire Falls," Richard Russo delves deep into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache, and grace. Russowon the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.