All That I Have: A Novel [Paperback]

Castle Freeman Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2009

In this gripping, wise, and darkly funny tale of suspense, Sheriff Lucian Wing confronts a series of trials that test his work, his marriage, and the settled order of his life.
       Wing is an experienced, practical man who enforces the law in his corner of Vermont with a steady hand and a generous tolerance. Things are not as they should be, however, in the sheriff’s small, protected domain. The outside world draws near, and threats multiply: the arrival in the district of a band of exotic, major league criminals; an ambitious and aggressive deputy; the self-destructive exploits of a local bad boy; Wing’s discovery of a domestic crisis. The sheriff’s response to these diverse challenges calls on all the personal resources he has cultivated during his working life: patience, tact, and (especially) humor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Freeman's pleasantly wicked fourth novel (after Go with Me), set in smalltown rural Vermont, explores the moral choices of a good-hearted, meek sheriff. The laconic and gently self-deprecating sheriff, Lucian Wing, a middle-aged ex-navyman married to a prominent lawyer's daughter, has to decide whether to arrest a young ne'er do well who has broken into an opulent home owned by mysterious Russians and stolen a safe. The problem is that Wing feels for the young criminal, Sean Duke, who works as a laborer, has a winning way with the ladies and is known for his wild behavior. The childless sheriff regards the kid as a kind of bad-boy substitute son and knows that if he doesn't spirit Duke out of town, the Russians will get him first. Meanwhile, Sean makes inroads into the sheriff's chilly marriage, bringing Wing to a crisis of conscience. Freeman sets an intertwined network of provincial egos on a collision course and pulls it off through the wonderfully satisfying point of view of his deadpan sheriff. (Mar.)
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Review

"It is impossible not to appreciate this spare, meditative and seamlessly crafted novel."
—The London Times 

 "brilliant Freeman… abundant in dry wit and addictive story-writing as he has ever been.. in this ridiculous absorbing novel [I dare you to try putting it down]…expect a tale that immerses you with such fluency and awkward realism you’ll ever forget you’re even reading fiction: yes it is that good. The dialogue between ach of the marvelously authentic characters is superb, merging and engrossing and suspenseful plot with a brilliantly dark sense of humour."
—The Crack Magazine  

"A wonderful book.  Every paragraph a gem of tough Western poetry.  Freeman - like McCarthy, like Proulx and Woodrell - shows us the awkward realness of such lives, and does it with humour, with wry perception, with great style.  I look forward eagerly to many more such works."
—R. J. Ellory (author of The Anniversary Man)

"An original voice... I had no idea what I was missing. Sean Duke, the Cossacks and the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi are just part of the pack barking at the end of the drive. Their voices, and Freeman's, illuminate a marvelous novel." — The Oregonian

"The wit, humor and keen ear for dialogue Freeman's fans have come to relish. . . an absorbing, suspenseful gem of a novel." — Portsmouth Herald

A "serving of Vermont wit and wisdom, with a modicum of crime solving on the side. . . . though it's not the suspense but the sly, country-cousin charm of Freeman's storytelling that is the main attraction." — The Boston Globe

"Freeman writes with a sure hand and a dry wit." — The Sun-Sentinel

An "absorbing yarn from a writer shrewd with the delayed reveal and deft with his lean, tidy sentences. The novel's 20 short chapters fit as snugly as Lincoln logs, and its dialogue zings with a sly Elmore Leonard lilt." — The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sheriff Lucian Wing, the narrator of Freeman's wonderfully wry fourth novel, is a laconic, old-fashioned lawman who discovers an outpost of nefarious Russians in his sleepy Vermont county. Wing's Fargo-esque delivery is hysterical, but what makes this spare tale a standout is Freeman's keen ear for dialogue and his affection for the quietly complex characters of small-town life. — People (four stars)

Freeman's pleasantly wicked fourth novel (after Go with Me), set in smalltown rural Vermont, explores the moral choices of a good-hearted, meek sheriff. The laconic and gently self-deprecating sheriff, Lucian Wing, a middle-aged ex-navyman married to a prominent lawyer's daughter, has to decide whether to arrest a young ne'er do well who has broken into an opulent home owned by mysterious Russians and stolen a safe. The problem is that Wing feels for the young criminal, Sean Duke, who works as a laborer, has a winning way with the ladies and is known for his wild behavior. The childless sheriff regards the kid as a kind of bad-boy substitute son and knows that if he doesn't spirit Duke out of town, the Russians will get him first. Meanwhile, Sean makes inroads into the sheriff's chilly marriage, bringing Wing to a crisis of conscience. Freeman sets an intertwined network of provincial egos on a collision course and pulls it off through the wonderfully satisfying point of view of his deadpan sheriff. — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Steerforth (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586421514
• ISBN-13: 978-1586421519
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More stars, please, February 24, 2009

By 

sb-lynn (Santa Barbara, California United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: All That I Have: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

What a wonderful, fantastic novel. Last year I read this author's book, Go With Me, which became one of my top reads of that year. I already know that this book, All That I Have, is going to make this year's list.

Both books are short - you can easily read them in a few hours. But they are both jam-packed with such clever and funny prose that you will want to reread certain passages over and over again, just for the joy of it.

Short summary, no spoilers -

This is a story about Lucian Wing, a humble, laconic, and very wise sheriff in a rural part of Vermont. Suddenly his quiet and relatively uneventful life is challenged by a series of events - a local dimwitted hoodlum nicknamed Superboy picks the wrong house to burgle - and makes off with a strongbox owned by some suspicious and violent Russians who have just moved in the area. Needless to say, they want it back.

Throw into the mix Wing's overly ambitious deputy, an exotic female photographer of dubious age, a guard dog described as a "bull mastiff-wolf-alligator hybrid" and a crew of truly eccentric characters and you can see this gets interesting. Oh, and Sheriff Wing may be having his own marital strife, to boot.

But as I stated earlier it's not simply the plot that makes this book sing. It's the incredibly clever and witty prose and Freeman's ability to string together a series of words that not only make you laugh, but make you shake your head in recognition of their veracity.

While reading this book, I placed little stick-it arrows in all the passages that I wanted to remember. Looking at it now, if I threw this book in the air, I believe it might fly on its own - I used up a lot of those stickies.

Needless to say, highly, highly recommended. I believe this author is so talented, and his writing style unique. I am already looking forward to his next book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to the backwoods of Vermont....., April 11, 2009

By 

Jodi "languagejunkie" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: All That I Have: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

This book forces the reader to stop and slow down a little bit. This story does not take place in the exciting cities of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Nooooo, the author takes us on a little jaunt to the backwoods of Vermont where "excitement" is a relative term and the definition of a criminal is vague, at best.

While in Vermont, we meet Sheriff Lucian Wing who is "old school" so to speak, and runs his county his way. He seems to be well liked, or at least well tolerated. He drives his own truck instead of the county's sheriff car (it saves the county money) and doesn't even bother carrying a weapon (it's in the trunk if he ever needs it...at least he THINKS it's still in the trunk.) So when a house that is owned by the Russian Mafia gets burglarized, it is up to the good sheriff to sort everything out before the Mafia decides to take the law into their own hands. Oh wait, too late!

This is a pretty short book and it's not an exciting edge-of-your-seat page turner. Nevertheless, though, I really enjoyed it. It's one of those books that, when life just starts whizzing by you, grabs you by the shirt collar and holds you back just a bit. The book is narrated by Sheriff Wing and it is interesting to get inside his head and "see" what makes him tick. He goes off in tangents sometimes, but I think that makes him more realistic and human. You can't help but like the guy, even if you don't totally agree with his sheriffing style.

That being said, there was once instance where I felt that, as laid back as Sheriff Wing is, his reaction was simply too laid back to be believable. When a problem hits too close to home, Sheriff Wing doesn't respond in a way that I felt a real person would have. Regardless of that, though, I still really enjoyed this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent compact tale of small-town life and law enforcement, February 25, 2009

By 

C. Quinn (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All That I Have: A Novel (Paperback)

(What's this?)

For such a short book, this novel is densely packed with imagery and pathos. Told from the perspective of local sheriff Lucian Wing, this tale of small town crime with big city implications is a deft character study. I was reminded of No Country for Old Men, but this tale was less dark (though no less gripping) and used wry humor to soften the building tension. As Wing unravels the crime, local troublemaker Sean makes waves in both the community, Wing's marriage, and in the case itself. The ending is superb, the writing crisp, and the characters deep- highly recommended with a definite 5 star rating.