Customer Reviews

All That I Have: A Novel

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

What stands out for me in Castle Freeman Jr.'s "All That I Have" is the wonderful main character, Sheriff Lucian Wing, and the humor that runs throughout the book.

Set in a small town part of Vermont (though at times I kept moving that town to the south in my mind, given the manner of speaking of several characters), this book is a slice of life piece. True, there is a story arc and a climax...but there's an overlying day to day-ness of it that suggest that the events, while memorable, are all part of a way of life.

That way of life is embodied in Lucian Wing - who turns his profession into a verb. Everything he does is part of "sheriffing" - a job passed on to him by his mentor, the previous Sheriff Wingate.

More than a job, though, it's learning and knowing people. Or "getting" people.

"Well, it's changing times, ain't it? The way I said before, we've got different kinds of people passing through here from what there used to be. Take the Russians. Take Morgan Endor. People you never do get. But you can get them partway. The Russians? I get them. They're evildoers. Morgan Endor? Don't know. I could take you all the way, Sheriff. I doubt it. I doubt it like hell. But I don't know."

Being in the first person, being in Lucian's mind is wonderful, a treasure trove of brilliant things thought in the simplest of ways. (At times his voices dances right up to the line of too folksy for me, but never quite crosses.) Even though his world is small, he's seen a great deal, thought about even more...yet isn't jaded. Well - except for the part of his mind that is closed off from the reader. And from himself. You know it's there, but it's never spoken of.

Wing sees his small world with clear eyes and through a lens of humor.

"The door had been broken in. It had been destroyed: glass all over the porch, all over the room inside, busted woodwork....He'd more than shattered the glass and the woodwork. He'd ripped the door and the upper hinge right out of the frame."

"Cat burglar, here, it looks like," I said."

Though he left his part of the world for the navy, it was a brief interlude before returning, and with the knowledge that people are the same the world over, and maybe with a few more skills with which to handle them.

"In the shore patrol, I found out that I have a talent for talking to people that are very, very drunk. And I learned that if talking don't work, you can do about anything you like with a drunk by grabbing tight hold of his nose and twisting. You won't do permanent damage, but he will come along, plus he'll put out quite a lot of blood, which changes the subject, makes him think, and impresses any friends of his who might want to join in the fun."

And there are the usual small town characters in Lucian's world...but they don't come off as stereotypical. There's something there, some depth that keeps them as a character and not a caricature.

"Addison's what you could call a pillar of the community, though he's the kind of pillar where the side facing out gets a little more paint than the side facing in."

This small book is a story about a place, a people and a man. A life that is like many others, where drama comes in, dusts things up a bit, and then leaves...and the dust settles down again. It seems a funny, yet thoughtful example of the saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

This is a simply remarkable book. The writing is smooth, clear and brings you right along with a story that fits the setting, the characters and the tone. There is not a single wasted word.

Along the way, Freeman offers incredibly powerful insights that leave you wondering, "Wow, why didn't I think that before?" He talks of the geography of people - how some of us know what we want to be from when we're little and grow up to be that (the straight line), whereas others of us take a bit of wandering (the explorer) to find where we fit.

And every so often there is a little bit of humor that fit the moment, the scene and the characters perfectly: "Talking to Sean was like talking to a barking dog, except that any dog that's smart enough to bark is smarter than Sean."

This will undoubtedly be one of my favorite novels of 2009. There is almost a Hemingway-esque quality to Freeman's writing. Sparse, just right. Flawless. I can see why Freeman has won so many awards and so many fans. Between him, Chabon, and McCarthy, American literature is on the ascent yet again.

As I was struggling to put into words how much I enjoyed Castle Freeman's "All That I Have," it occurred to me I should just do what he does all through the book: keep it clear and concise, without over complicating things. So, to quote Stephen Sondheim, "here is my belief, in brief."

This is an almost perfect read - if such a thing can exist - beautifully paced, crisply written, funny as all Hell. Freeman's way with a phrase is almost startling at times in its economy and simplicity; in that regard he reminds me of two of my favorite authors, Richard Russo and Michael Malone. Each writes about small town America with affection, insight and a stinging, dry wit. And while no-one's motives or behavior - whether wealthy WASP or poor white trash - escapes scrutiny, there's never a hint of condescension or ridicule. I sincerely hope this is the first of many Lucian Wing novels; until then, I'll be happily checking out Freeman's earlier works.

Poor Sheriff Wing, his deputy thinks he's too 'old school', his wife is living a parallel life where they barely talk, and he's bombarded by letters from selectmen who want every penny he spends justified in triplicate. Nonetheless, when a naked man is found tied to a tree in his jurisdiction, he approaches the case with a laid back approach and lots of sheriffing the way he was taught from the previous sheriff.

As the sheriff connects the dots between the naked man, a robbery at 'Disneyland' (one of the big homes outside of town owned by out-of-staters), a missing local young man known as Superboy and the Russian Mafia, the story races along, not wasting a word. Although I agree with a previous reviewer that the sheriff was a bit too laid back about certain happenings in the book, the story is tied up in a neat fashion with no strings left hanging.

The character development is top notch, and the author did an excellent job in portraying the relationships between the sheriff and the people in his life. This book is on the short side, and is perfect for a relaxing afternoon when one is just searching for a light read. I'll definitely be looking for more works by this author.

The funny thing about this book is that it can be read in one sitting, yet it packs the punch of a much larger book. However, while reading like a much larger book, "All That I Have" pulls back with the smaller details. It doesn't condescend to us, it doesn't spell everything out in big sparkly letters so we get it. Either you get it, or you need everything spelled out for you. With the latter, a different author may be desired.

Lucian Wing is an introspective sheriff in his 40's. "Sheriffing" in a small town in Vermont, Wing likes to let things play out the way they are destined, and then handle them from there. He doesn't carry a gun, he doesn't wear a uniform. Everyone knows who he is, and what he does. When trouble comes to town in the form of Russians, a burglary, and the town Casanova/ne'er-do-well, Wing handles everything the way he always does.

One of the things I really liked about this novel is that it reads the way people think. Sure, a little - or lot - more structured, but the smallest thing will get Wing thinking about his wife Clementine, or some moment in his past. And Wing is wise, having learned lessons from his past, through the military, through the beginning of his law enforcement career. He is wise, but he doesn't stop learning, and he knows when to take it easy and see where things go.

That, my friends, is "sheriffing."

Sheriff Lucian Wing, the narrator of Castle Freeman's taut, sinewy novella All That I Have, is endearing, wise, and down-to-earth. He is a man with no illusions, stripped of all vanity, and resigned to a life of quiet contemplation and obscurity yet he has a healthy outlook on life buoyed for the most part by his deadpan humor. He appreciates what he has, a beautiful wife, Clemmie, and a meaningful job--working in law enforcement. Never mind that his father-in-law has an undying, seething contempt for him. Never mind that his wife can be at times ornery with her husband. Never mind that Sheriff Wing hardly makes any money for putting his life on the line every day in this small Vermont town. Never mind that the rural dwellers scoff at Wing's crime-fighting, looking at him as more of a busybody than a fearless hero. And never mind that Wing works with a true confederacy of vainglorious nincompoops, including the unscrupulous Deputy Keen who covets Wing's job. Lucian Wing is a wise man who can extract happiness from the small things in life. He knows the importance of appreciating his successes and ironing over his failures.

From his realistic, sometimes gimlet-eyed view of the world, we see the Wing explain his evolution as a sheriff. He weaves his past experiences with his current crisis: Coming cross a crime evidencing that Russian gangsters are infiltrating his small community. At the same time the sheriff has to fight for his job in an election against the deputy.

Admirers of this tart, humorous, understated prose will probably want to check out Charles Willeford's Hoke Moseley detective novels, including Miami Blues and New Hope for the Dead.

Some of the other readers found this book funny and suspenseful. I didn't think it was either, but it was definitely well-written and interesting. The "main" plot involving a theft and the mysterious presence of Russian criminals in a small Northeastern town is really the backdrop for the internal journey the local sheriff takes as he investigates the recent crimes. Sheriff Wing is forced to take a hard look at his life and his marriage, and he learns some things about both. I found All That I Have to be quiet and understated, with prose and plots that lead the reader to a place that I certainly wasn't expecting when I first started the novel. It's short and a little sweet, and I'd say well worth reading.