Cascade Falls: A Novel - Softcover

"Bruce Ferber's Cascade Falls is a black comedy of high order, bitingly funny and earnestly moving at the same time. He has a great eye for the ways we misperceive ourselves and each other, often with drastic consequences. Ferber writes with a comic urgency but he's never too busy funnin' to recognize the way life can erode even the best intentions." T. Jefferson Parker, author of Full Measure"In the suburbs of Phoenix, marriages and careers are coming undone in this second novel from sitcom producer Ferber." Kirkus"This novel is a sincere exploration of the struggles people go through trying to survive and do right, while still holding on to their dreams." ForeWord"Bruce Ferber is that perfect combination of humorist and humanist. Cascade Falls is poignant, moving, and ridiculously funny." Dan Zevin, Thurber Award-winning author of Dan Gets a Minivan"Bruce Ferber's gentle narrative style slyly masks a much more serious question, one the disillusioned suburbanites at the core of Cascade Falls might as well be asking on the part of us all: namely, what does the American Dream mean these days, and to whom does its storied set of tenets apply? Ferber reminds us that no matter how well off you think you are, there's always room to fall, and yet no matter how far you've fallen, there's also room in your remaining space and years to find your best self." David Kukoff, author of Children of the Canyon"Seldom does the breach in a couple's bond spring from a simple, singular moment. The rift deepens subtly through trickles of concealed, vulnerable truths; wounding misinterpretations that erode trust and build defensiveness; the paradox of alienation alongside a drive to join; and faraway spaces of intimacy, ardor, and hope. In Cascade Falls, Bruce Ferber masterfully reproduces a relationship in its aching devolution." Holly Parker, PhD, lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of If We're Together, Why Do I Feel So Alone?

Cascade Falls explores the failed promise of the American Dream. Raised to believe that with hard work, anything is possible, a staggering number of Americans hate their jobs and see little chance of ever escaping the grind. In his tragicomic followup to the laugh-ridden Elevating Overman, Bruce Ferber asks the question: "How does giving up our dreams affect our relationships and our psyches?"Danny Johnson, a writer whose career never materialized, moves with his wife and children to Cascade Falls, a water-filled, golf community in the bone-dry desert outside of Phoenix. Grudgingly going to work for his father Ted, the Elmer Gantry of home development, Danny's quest for stability ultimately comes up short. His marriage begins to fray and the housing market goes bust, forcing him and those around him to examine their lives anew. Cascade Falls exposes the desperate price paid for sacrificing who we are for how and where we live.