Falling Up In A City of Angels
A Novel
By Connor Judson Garrett
In this raw, honest, and poetic debut novel, Tony reveals to the reader (and to himself) the exciting and sometimes hollow search for meaning in LA-LA land. The author paints a vivid portrait of millennials and relationships in the age of Tinder and friends with benefits. He takes the reader on a voyeuristic journey through his new haunts of Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Malibu with all their quirky, shady, and wondrous characters. A hopeless romantic and a perfectionist with a penchant for mistakes, the protagonist Tony falls in love with the allure of the City of Angels and learns to live with his own imperfections. He leaves behind everything familiar in his hometown of Atlanta with only $1,800 to his name to pursue his dream of being a writer in Los Angeles. Often compared to: Bright Lights, Big City- Californication - The Great Gatsby- On The Road- The Catcher in the Rye
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Literary Fiction/Coming of Age Fiction
National Indie Excellence Finalist for Best Fiction Cover
Meet the author
Connor Judson Garrett
Review Quotes:
“Connor Judson Garrett's novel, Falling Up in The City of Angels, takes us on a fresh romp through the adventures of Tony, a young wannabe writer as he makes his way through his new home in LA, far from the only world he had ever known back in Georgia. And what a romp it will be as Tony stumbles and falls, yet, continues to pick himself up as he makes his way into adulthood. Garrett has crafted a truly wonderful, debut novel worthy of both our time and attention.” — Robert Hicks, author of The New York Times and international bestseller The Widow of The South
“Connor Garrett’s Falling Up in The City of Angels sings like a manifesto of youth seen through the eyes of one who misses nothing. It’s a travelogue through the spinning vortex of LA, written from the edge of innocence by an author whose voice is so personal, you want to reach out and hold his hand. Fresh from college graduation, in a time when the sky is the limit, narrator Tony leaves his Georgia home with little to recommend him than his dream of being a writer. Thinking magic can happen with little in his pocket in a town where anything goes, blind optimism leads Tony from one eye-opening episode to the next as he hits all the highpoints in the City of Angels. The reader visits the Venice Canals, meets posers, and actors, and spiritual seekers; commiserates with Tony through the laws of romantic attraction, pauses at his insights on the back end.
Like a fledgling meeting chance in an odyssey of discovery, Tony’s beginner’s luck navigates west LA without a filter. He is young, resourceful, adventurous, and optimistic. He is resilient, insightful, surefooted, and not a quitter.
Falling up in the City of Angels is a fresh take on an age-old experience. It reads like a roadmap of a young man’s coming into being while avoiding the campy pitfalls of a fish-out-of-water story. With language both accessible and profoundly sophisticated, author Connor Garrett depicts the blossoming of youth in all its first-impression, awestruck wonder.” — Claire Fullerton, author of Little Tea