All That Is

James Salter

ISBN 10: 1482926237 ISBN 13: 9781482926231

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

[Read by Joe Barrett]

An extraordinary literary event, a major new novel by the PEN/Faulkner winner and acclaimed master, here is a sweeping, seductive, deeply moving story set in the years after World War II.

After his experiences as a young naval officer in battles off Okinawa, Philip Bowman returns to America and finds a position as a book editor. It is a time when publishing is still largely a private affair -- a scattered family of small houses here and in Europe -- a time of gatherings in fabled apartments and conversations that continue long into the night. In this world of dinners, deals, and literary careers, Bowman finds he fits in perfectly. But despite his success, love eludes him. His first marriage goes bad, another fails to happen, and finally he meets a woman who enthralls him and sets him on a course he could never have imagined for himself.

Romantic and haunting, All That Is explores a life unfolding in a world on the brink of change. It is a dazzling, sometimes devastating labyrinth of love and ambition, a fiercely intimate account of the great shocks and grand pleasures of being alive.

About this title

Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, April 2013: By starting the life story of Phillip Bowman in the last days of World War II, Salter sets the tone for the rest of this remarkable book. “The outcome of great battles could hinge on resolve,” he writes, and Bowman is all about resolve. But beneath the deceptively straightforward coming-of-age and growing-old narrative--boy meets girl, loses girl; meets, loses; meets, loses--lurks the deeply personal story of what it meant to be a 20th century man. Bowman is the archetype of the flawed, ambitious, lust-filled American male. He’s Don Draper. He’s Rabbit Angstrom. He’s your dad. He’s my dad. (Also named Phil; also from New Jersey.) What’s truly astounding here is the writing, from a master who happens to be an octogenarian. Salter crafts beautiful sentences. He creates characters, lives, entire worlds in just a page or two. He’s also capable of some blushingly evocative sex scenes--again, impressive for a man approaching 90. Profound and lush, this is a book to savor. It’s the sweeping story of a complicated, error-filled, fully wrung-out life. A guy’s life. A good life. --Neal Thompson

About the Author

JAMES SALTER is the author of numerous books, including the novels Solo Faces, Light Years, A Sport and a Pastime, The Arm of Flesh (revised as Cassada), and The Hunters; the memoirs Gods of Tin and Burning the Days; the collections Dusk, and Other Stories, which won the 1989 PEN/Faulkner Award, and Last Night, He is the recipient of the Rea Award for the Short Story and the PEN/Malamud Award. Life Is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days, was written with his wife, Kay Salter. He lives in New York and Colorado.

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1482926237
• ISBN 13: 9781482926231
• Binding: Audio CD
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 8