Fatboy Fall Down
A Novel

“Eh? Your belly full.” He repeated the sentence each time he brought down his rod on Orbits' hand, on the scabs he had been gnawing at. “Go and stand at the back of the class.” When Orbits was walking to the back, a boy pushed out his leg and he tumbled. The teacher's annoyance turned to amusemen......more

Despite — perhaps because of — being bullied at school, Orbits, the titular Fatboy, drifts through life with his head in the clouds. He becomes a meteorologist, for frig sake. Orbits’ first job is tour guide, a job handed to him, he who “had no discernible talents.” Eventually, he becomes a small-tim......more

This book grew on me slowly, at first I found the characters shallow and simple. Then as I listened I realized there are a lot of people who drift through life the way Orbits did. He eventually developed more of an inner life as he matured. I think because of the bullying and casual cruelty of his f......more

it is a very interesting book, of a very uninteresting life. I feel like it is unlike anything I have ever read.......more

A slow tragedy with a sprinkling of comedy, Fatboy Fall Down by Rabindranath Maharaj tells the story of Orbits from childhood to adulthood, growing up in Trinidad. As an overweight child, Orbits is subjected to teasing and ridicule at home and school, making him an outsider whose only dream is to fl......more