If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
MICHAEL CHRISTIE's debut book of fiction, The Beggar's Garden, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, a finalist for the Writers' Trust Prize for Fiction, and won the Vancouver Book Award. Prior to earning an MFA from the University of British Columbia, he was a sponsored skateboarder and travelled throughout the world skateboarding and writing for skateboard magazines. Born in Thunder Bay, he now lives on Galiano Island with his wife and two sons. If I Fall, If I Die is his first novel.
Reviews
Review this book!
On Nov 8, 2015, CloggieDownunder said
“Since he’d been Outside, he’d learned that fear was only a default setting, like how the TV always starts at channel 3 when you first turn it on. That everyone is born afraid of everything, but most people build calluses over top of it” If I Fall, I Die is the first novel by prize-winning Canadian author and skateboarder, Michael Christie. Since he was a small boy, eleven-year-old Will Cardiel has lived Inside with his mom. Going Outside would just trigger a Black Lagoon for her, so he doesn’t. Until today. Unable to ignore a loud noise, he investigates, meets another boy his age, and sets in motion major changes in his life. Diane Cardiel has agoraphobia. Once a successful filmmaker, her anxiety is now so great (“…her heart insisted on racing, like an oil-doused bird flapping for its life in her chest. Other sensations, too, unmistakeable as neon: a dull pain throughout, a soreness in her blood, a twisting in her gut, stardust in her fingertips. It would pass, a mere miscalculation of an errant brain that found danger where there was none, that saw a lion instead of the lamb before her”) that her life is limited to inside their house in Thunder Bay (and sometimes, inside her bedroom). Her fears for Will are many, but she knows that one day soon, she will have to let him go, let him live a normal life. When he insists on going to school, she somehow manages her anxiety. But when she discovers he has been going to the waterfront, to the grain elevators, her dread is overwhelming: “…what drove her panic today wasn’t that her brother had died at the elevators, just as her father did, or that her mother died a young woman. It was that anyone did. Anywhere. That tragedy made no distinction. That it claimed equally those who invited it and those who didn’t. Those treasured, and those ignored. That there was no protection, no spell. It knew every face. Every address” The story, told over two years of Will’s life, is narrated by Will, by Diane and by a man named Titus, whose identity is gradually revealed (although astute readers will guess correctly). Christie gives the reader a plausible plot, with several mysteries that take twists and turns before being finally resolved. His characters are complex and believable: none are wholly good, all have flaws and failings. There is plenty of humour in Will’s discovery of the Outside world. Christie gives the reader some marvellous descriptive prose. He can evoke the feel of an agoraphobic’s terror as easily as the confusion of an adolescent: “…such magnitudes of time had a similar underwhelming effect as when his mother first taught him that every single star was actually another sun just like theirs. They created a humph – then nothing. Some information was too enormous to cram into your mind” Christie obviously writes from experience: he grew up in Thunder Bay himself, and his love of skateboarding is apparent. This moving coming-of-age novel also touches on the plight of Native Canadians, the dangers of grain elevators, the attraction of pure grain liquor and the debilitating effects of agoraphobia. A remarkable debut.
Available Copies
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Near Fine in Very Good dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition; First Printing
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780771023651
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Wheatfield, New York, USA
- Item Price
-
€32.52
Show Details
Description:
McClelland & Stewart. Near Fine in Very Good dust jacket. 2015. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. 0771023650 . A Good Read ships from Toronto and Niagara Falls, NY - customers outside of North America please allow two to three weeks for delivery. Bruising to top spine. Bump and small tear at bottom edge of back wrapper near spine,… Read more about this item Item Price
€32.52
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Wraps
- Edition
- First Edition/First Printing
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
kansas city, Missouri, USA
- Item Price
-
€10.57
Show Details
Description:
NEW YORK: Hogarth, 2015. Book. Fine. Soft cover. First Edition/First Printing. arc. Item Price
€10.57
If I Fall, If I Die: Signed
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- New
- Jacket Condition
- New
- Edition
- 1ST
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
CARSON CITY, Nevada, USA
- Item Price
-
€60.40
Show Details
Description:
U.S.A.: Hogarth, 2015. Book. New. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1ST. An Outstanding Copy - Signed By The Author On The Title Page. Signature Only. A First Edition, First Printing. Book Is In Fine Condition. Boards Are Clean, Not Bumped. Fore Edges Are Clean. Interior Is Clean And Legible. Not Remaindered. Dust Jacket Is In Fine Condition. Not Chipped Or… Read more about this item Item Price
€60.40
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Good in Good dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780771023651
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Wheatfield, New York, USA
- Item Price
-
€9.28
Show Details
Description:
McClelland & Stewart. Good in Good dust jacket. 2015. First Edition. Hardcover. 0771023650 . A Good Read ships from Toronto and Niagara Falls, NY - customers outside of North America please allow two to three weeks for delivery. Minor creases to edges of jacket. Library sticker on inside cover page. ; 11.80 X 6.70 X 1.20 inches;… Read more about this item Item Price
€9.28
If I Fall, if I Die: **Signed**
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- As New
- Jacket Condition
- As New
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
carson city, Nevada, USA
- Item Price
-
€60.40
Show Details
Description:
New York: Hogarth, 2015. Book. As New. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). First Edition. SIGNED by Michael Christie on the Title page. Signature only. A First edition, First printing. Book is in Fine condition. Boards are clean, not bumped. Fore edges are clean. Interior is clean and legible. Not remaindered. Dust Jacket is in Fine condition. Not chipped or crinkled. Not… Read more about this item Item Price
€60.40
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Like New
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780434023073
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
- Item Price
-
€0.93
Show Details
Description:
Paperback. Like New. Item Price
€0.93
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
- Condition
- Used
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 2015
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mississauga, Ontario, CAN
- Item Price
-
€32.52
Show Details
Description:
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2015. First Edition . First Edition/ Advance Reading Copy. Near fine softcover in illustrated wraps. Debut novel was long listed for the Giller Prize.
Item Price
€32.52
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
- Condition
- New
- Jacket Condition
- New
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Sewn binding
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
- Item Price
-
€19.49
Show Details
Description:
First Edition, 1st printing in New condition. Item Price
€19.49
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780434023073
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
- Item Price
-
€0.93
Show Details
Description:
Paperback. Very Good. Item Price
€0.93
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
€5.57
Show Details
Description:
Crown/Archetype, 2015. Hardcover. Very Good. Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
€5.57
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780771023651
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
€6.48
Show Details
Description:
McClelland & Stewart, 2015. Hardcover. Very Good. Disclaimer:May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
€6.48
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
€5.57
Show Details
Description:
Crown/Archetype, 2015. Hardcover. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
€5.57
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780804140829
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
€9.79
Show Details
Description:
Hogarth Press, 2015. Paperback. Good. Former library book; Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
€9.79
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
- Condition
- Used - Collectible-Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- January 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Youngtown, Arizona, USA
- Item Price
-
€7.44
Show Details
Description:
Hogarth, January 2015. First Edition. Hardcover. Collectible-Good/Good. First edition by number code. Dust jacket has shelf wear. Item Price
€7.44
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Published
- 2015-02-12
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780434023066
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
London, London, GBR
- Item Price
-
€7.14
Show Details
Description:
William Heinemann, 2015-02-12. Hardcover. Very Good. 3.8071 in x 22.7919 in x 14.1878 in. Blue boards with silver gilt title on spine. A clean, tight copy throughout with minimal wear. No markings. Item Price
€7.14
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Frederick, Maryland, USA
- Item Price
-
€4.82
Show Details
Description:
Hogarth. Used - Very Good. Very Good condition. Good dust jacket. With remainder mark. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain a few markings such as an owner’s name, short gifter’s inscription or light stamp. Item Price
€4.82
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used; Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780434023066
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Milton Keynes , Buckinghamshire, GBR
- Item Price
-
€4.27
Show Details
Description:
William Heinemann. Hardcover. Used; Good. Simply Brit welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring theres something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped… Read more about this item Item Price
€4.27
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Published
- 2015
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780804140805
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
€5.57
Show Details
Description:
Hogarth Press, 2015. Hardcover. Acceptable. Former library book; Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
€5.57
If I Fall, If I Die
by Michael Christie
- Condition
- Used
- Published
- 2015
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Luddenham, New South Wales, AUS
- Item Price
-
€21.84
Show Details
Description:
London: Random House, 2015. Used. A heartfelt and wondrous debut lauded by Philipp Meyer (New York Times bestselling author of The Son) as "astonishing", introducing a supremely gifted and exciting new voice in Fiction. Will has never been to the outside, at least not since he can remember. And he has certainly never got to know anyone other… Read more about this item Item Price
€21.84
If I Fall, If I Die
by Christie, Michael
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9780434023066
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, GBR
- Item Price
-
€1.38
Show Details
Description:
Paperback. Very Good. Item Price
€1.38