num_pages: 336
description: Set in Houston in the mid-1980s, Against Gravity is a harrowing story of three lives colliding— Madison Kirby, an angry, dying intellectual; Ric Cardinal, a social worker dedicated to helping others but tormented by the son he cannot save; and Roya, a struggling Iranian immigrant who has traveled for years through the war-torn Middle East to arrive in Texas to eke out the most tenuous life for herself and her daughter. They each tell of their own lives, yet as their stories intertwine a portrait of shared struggle and loss emerges. A devastating and beautiful novel.  “AGAINST GRAVITY is an intense novel, ambitious in its reach, intriguing in its structural complexity and the sophistication of its narration. It is the highly satisfying work of a mature writer that will leave the reader wanting more. I enjoyed it.” —Nuruddin Farah, author of Links, and the Blood in the Sun Trilogy
language: English
title: Against Gravity
titlecomplete: Against Gravity
genres: Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 166
publisher: Penguin Books