Today on the Life on Books Podcast we are doing a deep dive on the hidden literary gem of Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter.

Hard Rain Falling was Carpenter's debut novel, and despite it being the work of a master of his craft, Carpenter's career never seemed to materialize in the same way as his contemporaries.

In Hard Rain Falling you won't be wowed by pyrotechnic prose, or need to keep a dictionary nearby as is the case with so many respected authors. Instead what you'll get is a gritty, bleak, and unique story that sinks its hooks into you and won't let you go until you've finished.

In our modern time, so many books are described as "daring" "bold" or "ambitious" but often fail to live up to those claims. Hard Rain Falling is all of those things, and more. In 1966, when the novel debuted, tackling topics like race relations, gay romance, class struggle, questioning the morality of the prison system and capitalism were all taboo subjects, yet Carpenter fearlessly took these head on.

Don Carpenter has been called the "American Dostoevsky" and after reading Hard Rain Falling, I'm inclined to agree.

Here are all the books mentioned in the podcast:

Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9781590...

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

https://amzn.to/3RPVvcj

Angels by Denis Johnson

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9780060...

The Garden by Aiden Scott

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9780679...

What Kingdom by Fine Grabal

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9781953...

An Apprenticeship of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9780811...

Vulture Capitalism by Grace Blakely

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9781982...

History a Mess by Sigrun Palsdottir

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9781940...

Hamas from Resistance to Regime by Paola Caridi

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9781644...

Memed, My Hawk by Yashar Kemal

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9781590...

Fox by Dubravka Ugresic

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9781940...

On the Edge of Reason by Miroslav Krieza

https://bookshop.org/a/103053/9780811...