My Amazon and Goodreads review of Things That Crash, Things That Fly (Rating 5) – A Good Storyteller with a Good Story to Tell. Scott Gould’s memoir, Things That Crash, Things That Fly, speaks to everyone recovering from an experience — in his case a divorce — that has left them blind-sided and angry, in search of explanations and revenge. On the eve of a trip to Italy, including the small village where his wife’s family is from, she announces that she will leave him when they return. Readers recognize her sadism, but in his desperation to remain married, Gould is in denial until a “piercing” revelation (I won’t spoil it by revealing more) releases his rage. Wallowing in post-divorce misery, Gould returns to Italy to investigate the death of a young American World War Two bomber and tarnish his ex’s reputation. A good storyteller, with a good story to tell, Gould has an outward-looking eye for detail and an inward-looking eye for reflection. As an author myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I appreciate the dexterity with which Gould interweaves these two perspectives. In search of revenge, he experiences gratitude. In search of closure, he instead opens himself to new people and possibilities. Gould discovers that the dead soldier is kept alive by the stories of the villagers. Likewise, this return journey is a resurrection for the author. He tells his own tale and in the end, the book and its author soar.
