Falling Sideways – Autumn in Copenhagen

Thomas E. Kennedy paints a satirical picture of the people affected by a downsizing at a Copenhagen company. Martin Kampman is the hard-edged CEO of the Tank, Frederick Breathwaite is the down-sized manager and Harald Jaeger was promoted but has deep troubles with his romantic life. Kennedy adds in some family members and few other characters. Each tells their part of the story.

I usually don’t enjoy books with multiple protagonists. It works if they have distinctive voices or if they are giving different viewpoints on the underlying story. I found Kennedy to be mildly successful in using each character. They really don’t begin taking form until the second half of the book.

The real star of the Falling Sideways is the city of Copenhagen. Kennedy has spent most of the last three decades living there. The story is thick with the experience of living in his adopted city.

The publisher was nice enough to send me an advance copy of the book to read and review. It came through GoodReads First Reads program.

Although I enjoyed the book, I found it lacking. It’s supposed to be a satire, but I didn’t find much satire. There is not much of a story. It’s about how the characters interact. I was hooked into continue reading to find out what happens to them when a vocational obstacle falls in front of them. I was hoping for a payoff.