In the Middle of All This [Hardcover]

Fred G. Leebron (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0151008345 | ISBN-13: 978-0151008346 | Publication Date: August 21, 2002 | Edition: 1

Martin Kreutzel and his ill sister, Elizabeth, are as close as grown siblings can be-they have an essential connection. However, she lives with her husband outside of London and he lives with his wife and two children in a small Pennsylvania college town where he and his wife are both professors. Neither one of them likes the atmosphere there but they both have tenure track positions and can raise their two children in a safe neighborhood, in a house they can own. As Elizabeth's cancer worsens, Martin's love for her cripples his abilities at work and at home. When Elizabeth's husband, Richard, disappears for a few days, and one of Martin's students hangs herself, Martin finds himself torn between serving his sister and being a good husband, father, and professor. After Martin makes a trip to London to be with his sister, the situation gets stranger, alarming even, when Richard returns and whisks his wife off for the day, disappearing again, except this time he takes Elizabeth with him.
Leebron's compelling third novel brings us into the world of domestic unease as two couples and their joined families wrestle with empathy's limitations in the uncompromising teeth of mortality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This third novel by Leebron (Out West; Six Figures) tells the story of Martin Kreutzel, an anthropology professor at a small Pennsylvania college. Happily married and the father of two children, Martin watches his life collapse around him when he learns that his beloved sister, Elizabeth, is ill with cancer. Suddenly, Martin, the scientist whose preferred method is that of the "observer-participant," can neither observe nor participate, unable to cope with his sister's imminent death, unable to decide "whether mercy meant denial or acceptance." When his sister's husband, Richard, disappears, Martin flies to London to be with Elizabeth, leaving behind a house falling apart and a college struck by a series of tragedies. Shortly after Martin's arrival, Richard mysteriously returns and whisks Elizabeth off to an undisclosed location, leaving Martin in an empty house, futilely awaiting their return. In his sister's absence, Martin must learn to accept not only the loss of her life but the validity of his. Leebron tells most of his open-ended story from Martin's viewpoint, providing an uneasy glimpse into the psyche of a man torn apart, a man forced to acknowledge grim realities and to realize that "life in the middle of all this" meant that "life was the middle of all this." Leebron's exceptional skills as a storyteller and observer of humanity produce a novel both tremendously enjoyable and grandly poignant, a novel almost anthropological in its keen examination of man's fate.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Leebron's new work is being compared to works by Richard Ford and Raymond Carver, though he may be more reminiscent of the former than the latter. His third novel (after Out West and Six Figures) focuses on a man caught in strong, eddying currents who seems to want to control them but cannot and must either make a separate peace or be drawn under. Martin Kreutzel teaches college in a small Pennsylvania town, where his house is leaking, his children seem to be normal, and his colleagues are facing such vicissitudes as a spouse's substance abuse and a student's suicide. His main concern at the moment is his London-based sister, Elizabeth, a vigorous woman who is dying of cancer. When Elizabeth's husband disappears for a few days, Martin rushes to London to be with her. After Martin returns home, Elizabeth herself disappears, presumably to make her own peace with her foreshortened future. Leebron is an engaging writer, and it remains to be seen if he will find a larger audience. Recommended for literary fiction collections.
Harold Augenbraum, Mercantile Lib. of NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (August 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151008345
• ISBN-13: 978-0151008346
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,458,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant Craftsmanship, October 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Middle of All This (Hardcover)

One of the characters in this uncompromising book remarks that life always takes place "in the middle of all this," and it certainly does. This is a long journey in a short book and each page is fresh, beautifully conceived and wonderfully well-written. What a pleasure!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, moving, beautiful, September 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Middle of All This (Hardcover)

There's going to be a wide disparity of opinions about this book, since it deals with a hot-button, emotional subject: a sibling dying of cancer. For my money, the book and especially the writing are on the mark. For all its seriousness, it's also brutally funny, as we follow Martin self-destructing as he tries to give solace to his sister.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Two many loose threads, June 25, 2003

By 

K.C. Devereaux (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Middle of All This (Hardcover)

This read more like a collection of connected stories than a novel. The voices of the three narrators are compelling, but the book suffers from a lack of focus. The central conflict, involving the sister's illness, is marred by her disappearance, leaving the main character to meditate about the issues of mortality, love and family, stalling the story's momentum. The anecdotes from academic life, though entertaining, are distracting, because the minor characters arouse more curiosity than the main players.