Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky: Stories
    Unavailable
    What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky: Stories
    Unavailable
    What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky: Stories
    Audiobook5 hours

    What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky: Stories

    Written by Lesley Nneka Arimah

    Narrated by Adjoa Andoh

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Named one of the most anticipated books of 2017 by Buzzfeed, Time Magazine, Elle, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, the Millions, Nylon, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Electric Literature

    A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home.     

    In "Who Will Greet You at Home," a National Magazine Award finalist for The New Yorker, a woman desperate for a child weaves one out of hair, with unsettling results. In "Wild," a disastrous night out shifts a teenager and her Nigerian cousin onto uneasy common ground. In "The Future Looks Good," three generations of women are haunted by the ghosts of war, while in "Light," a father struggles to protect and empower the daughter he loves. And in the title story, in a world ravaged by flood and riven by class, experts have discovered how to "fix the equation of a person" - with rippling, unforeseen repercussions. 

    Evocative, playful, subversive, 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 4, 2017
    ISBN9781524751449
    Unavailable
    What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky: Stories

    Related to What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky

    Related audiobooks

    Magical Realism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Stormzy’s learning

      Aug 4, 2023

      Stormzy’s learning
      7 min read

    • Article

      News & Views

      Jan 16, 2023

      The dimensions for the base of the Chimney Advent Calendar (Dec/Jan 2023) were incorrectly duplicated from the mantel dimensions. The correct dimensions for its base should be 3/4 × 6 × 14". The base dimensions can also be customized to fit your own

      1 min read

    • Article

      Inspiration Everywhere

      Jun 19, 2021

      Inspiration Everywhere
      7 min read

    • Article

      The World Of Writing

      Dec 7, 2023

      Ian Ayris suggests ‘you can write anywhere with anything on anything’ (Creative writing building blocks, WM Sep). Emboldened by reading that, I joined the weekly Crafternoon in our Village Hall. Some people bring knitting or needlework, some paint or

      4 min read

    • Article

      How To Beat A Book Ban: Students, Parents And Librarians Fight Back

      Sep 21, 2022

      The censorship of books in the US has reached crisis level. More than 2,500 different book bans were enacted in schools across 32 US states during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a new report by Pen America. And attempts to ban books from lib

      8 min read

    • Article

      What You Said About…

      Aug 12, 2022

      What You Said About…
      2 min read

    • Article

      Saying, ‘Hello, Neighbor’ At Halloween

      Oct 23, 2023

      With rising concern over American neighborhoods becoming isolating social deserts, a nonprofit in Savannah, Georgia, has tapped into a holiday that once brought most neighbors together: Halloween. Known as Hello Neighbor SAV, the local group builds o

      2 min read

    • Article

      'I'm Not In It For The Money': BBC's Ex-China Editor On Being Forced To Make A Stand For Gender Pay Equality

      Mar 14, 2018

      "It's been very intense," says Carrie Gracie. "I'm still going through a pretty turbulent time." This sounds like an understate­ment from the woman who not long ago dramatically resigned as the BBC's China editor, making headlines around the world. S

      10 min read

    • Article

      A Different Kind of March Madness

      Feb 7, 2018

      Every March, sixty-eightmen’s college basketball teams battle it out on the court in the NCAA tournament. Bets are laid and rivalries stoked as millions of fans tune in to watch the games. Meanwhile, a different kind of March Madness—complete with br

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Different Kind of March Madness

      Feb 14, 2018

      Every March, sixty-eightmen’s college basketball teams battle it out on the court in the NCAA tournament. Bets are laid and rivalries stoked as millions of fans tune in to watch the games. Meanwhile, a different kind of March Madness—complete with br

      4 min read

    • Article

      Writing Prompts and Exercises

      Aug 16, 2023

      “For $200: When inheritance begins//What is: in the womb/What is: decades before I announced my father dead/to me,” writes Taylor Byas in the poem “Jeopardy! (The Category Is Birthright),” which appears in her debut collection, I Done Clicked My Heel

      2 min read

    • Article

      Club Activities Focus on Memories and Recovery

      Feb 11, 2022

      A reflective “This Month in History” feature column – “Two Prominent Members Lost” – was offered up in the October 2021 issue of the Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) Coin Society Newsletter by editor Peter Becker. One of them was Bruce Raszmann, who served

      5 min read

    Reviews for What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky

    4/5

    160 ratings16 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A collection of 12 short stories with a pretty wide breadth of premises, and a common thread of having an edge to them. My favorite was the title story, ‘What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky’, a futuristic tale in which amidst global catastrophe, a mathematical discovery has led to overcoming gravity and the ability of people with a certain skill to absorb other people’s grief, to ‘fix their equations’. Another fine one is ‘Buchi’s Girls,’ about a woman and her two girls forced to live with her affluent sister and brother-in-law because of their economic condition after her husband dies. I’d put ‘Glory’ near the top too; it’s about a woman who always seems to do and say the wrong things and instead of living up to her potential. She’s working in a customer service call center when she meets a young man interning who seems to be the opposite, leading a charmed life. There are no clunkers, and of the rest, ‘The Future Looks Good’, ‘War Stories’, ‘Who Will Greet You at Home’, and ‘Redemption’ stood out. Arimah gives a different perspective because many of the stories are either set in Nigeria or involve Nigerian immigrants or folklore, but more importantly, she writes with insight into people struggling with pain. She has an interesting way of blending direct realism that doesn’t pull any punches in describing violence and pathos, with occasional fantasy elements. Would love to see a full novel from her.
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful, thought provoking collection with many different genres represented. It's my favorite collection of short stories that I have read this year. Two of the best which I am stil thinking about months after reading them: 'What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky' – a future society where mankinds' troubles have been assuaged – people will even professionally bear your emotional burdens. But then it starts to go wrong.'Who Will Greet You at Home” - This is based on an African tale that I felt was similar to 'The Snow Child' – wanting a child so much that an inanimate object comes alive. But this one was quite darker than the Nordic version.Read these and enjoy. Your knowledge of Nigeria (although some of the stories also take place in the US) and human nature will both be the better for it
    • 5/5
      A splendid collection of short stories, each one a well-polished gem. Powerful, often heartbreaking, sometimes funny, always engrossing. Arimah writes clean, carefully crafted sentences with no wasted words to distract from the images and emotions they convey. After finishing the book, I reread most of the stories--the clearest recommendation I can give.
    • 4/5
      Another terrific collection of stories. The young talent out there these days, is truly mind-boggling. The author is also fearless, as she experiments with historical fiction, magical realism, dystopia and plain old, grim reality. Many of the stories are based in Nigeria or have Nigerian characters. She also handles personal relationships quite deftly and poignantly. Arimah is an author to keep a very close eye on.
    • 5/5
      The first story in this book took my breath away like a sucker punch. A couple I related to all too well. From science fiction to folklore this collection was a bittersweet read.
    • 5/5
      I read this in one sitting. Arimah's characters seethe with internalized violence they sublimate through storytelling, the same violence that eventually extinguishes the fire of girls as god, their mothers, and society mold them into proper young women. Complete with dashes of magical realism and steeped in lore. Riverhead has 2017 locked down.
    • 2/5
      I found these stories very difficult to listen to. In all fairness it may have been the readers. The stories struck me as unnecessarily harsh. Is there really so much anger in all these relationships?
    • 4/5
      I'm on a roll; the short story collections I've read this year have been far more engaging and resonated more than the novels I've read this year to date. And here's another debut collection that I wish everyone would read immediately. Of the twelve stories included, the titular tale is the one in which I lost myself completely. I really really really wanted to read a longer story set in that world.Individual story breakdown to come.4 stars(and I'll be reading whatever Arimah writes next!)
    • 4/5
      A beautifully written book, some stories I wished were longer. There’s a few amazing lines trough out the book, every story is so full of yearning for things as understanding, love, home and comfort.
    • 3/5
      The fragments of the lives presented in the book show the relationships between people, most often between daughters and their mothers. In showing just these little fragments of their lives, we see how the relationships have come to be the way they are, but are rarely shown how they end up, with the stories dangling. While I would have liked to see how these stories ended, I think the decision to cut them short was helpful for the purpose of showing continuing journeys and that the story doesn't have to end with brokenness, that there is always space and time to restore.
    • 4/5
      The twelve stories in this collection range from the grim to the whimsical. Set variously in America or Nigeria, in the future, the far future, or an alternate present, they tend to concern the anxiety of familial bonds in a world in which those bonds are severely tested. Betrayals by family members abound. Men are either ineffectual or monstrous or idealized. Women, more complex typically, are also capable of harsher judgements and more devious plans. Reality is permeable. Spirits or ghosts often have walk-on parts. And when the past is not corporealized, it’s atrocities nonetheless take on the immense weight of memory and grief.The writing is solid without being flashy. Arimah’s characters are believable, if somewhat outside the norm, even, or perhaps particularly, her golem-like Ogechi in “Who Will Greet You At Home.” Arimah is especially good on the state of beholdingness, which involves gratitude steeped in resentment. Individuals or part-families fall into the state of dependence on other family members through the vicissitudes of fate: war, accident, economic disaster, ecological catastrophe. There is an ever present feeling of risk. Whatever you might have at one moment could be gone in the next, with no hope of redemption. It makes for compelling yet anxious reading.The finest of these stories are as good as any you could hope to read anywhere. I particularly admired the aforementioned “Who Will Greet You At Home,” “Buchi’s Girls,” the title story, “What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky,” and, “Glory.” But I was not disappointed with any. It makes it easy to recommend this collection.
    • 5/5
      These fierce, vivid stories are well-crafted without ever feeling constructed. Arimah gives readers access to the core emotional struggle of her characters, making us complicit in the impossible decisions they face.
    • 5/5
      This is a terrific debut—inventive and varied in form but still cohesive, no doubt because Arimah's voice is really strong, but without the stories sounding at all alike. These are all dark but they're not ponderous, and she brings out elements of magic, myth, and sf in really inventive ways that won't make non-fans of those genres wince. I didn't, anyway, though I'm not quite a non-fan—but I am an easy wincer, and I thought Arimah pulled off the variety in this collection admirably. I'll definitely pick up whatever she comes out with next.
    • 4/5
      Another bookstagrammer, @bookisshhh, and I read this book of short stories together and shared our thoughts about the collection on her Instagram page. I am glad we chose to read it as our shared read because I would not have chosen it on my own. What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky is Lesley Nneka Arimah’s debut collection and contains a varied mix of stories that generally succeed splendidly and occasionally fall short. The title story is by far the outstanding tale in the collection; I enjoyed it so much that as soon as I finished it I started it over again. “Wild” is the other story that stood out to me and has stayed with me long after I finished the book. This cautionary tale proves that what people want the world to believe is often drastically different than what is actually occurring in their lives. While I enjoyed most of the stories, two of them were slow enough that I ended up not finishing them. If you are on Instagram check out the fabulous post that @bookisshhh created to share our joint thoughts on the collection. I definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy short stories and uniquely told tales.
    • 3/5
      3.5-wonderful collection of short stories but was a case of"it's not you it's me."
    • 2/5
      A weird mix of contemporary stories of nigerian and american culture, with a couple of strange sf tales thrown in for good measure - the titular story being one of them, and perhaps the best in the book.Perhaps I need more nigerian cultural background, but few of these stories had any appeal or connection for me. They're mostly about daughters seeking to either impress or reject their mothers, and fathers who don't support them. America is often held up as an ideal destination until the girls get there, to discover it's much like anywhere else, but without the sense of family and community that they've known in africa.