About this title: Joe Allston, the narrator of Stegner's earlier (1967) novel, ALL THE LITTLE LIVE THINGS, finds the journal he kept on a trip to Denmark 20 years earlier, which describes his attraction to a wealthy Danish woman. He reads the journal to his wife, and her response makes it clear how rich and vital their marriage has been. Winner of the National Book Award in 1976.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: 3rd Printing
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr, Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A.
Date published: 1979
ISBN-13:9780803291072ISBN:0803291078
Description: Good. No Dust Jacket as Issued. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Book shows moderate wear/ spine tight, pages clean/ covers slightly creased; moderate edge wear/ Friends of the Library stamp on title and or front page/ corners creased/ several page tips creased. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Date published: 1979
ISBN-13:9780803291072ISBN:0803291078
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Lightly read. Bright and sharp. Ready for immediate delivery! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 214 p. Audience: General/trade. Winner of the 1977 National Book Award. A postcard from a long-lost friend reminds retired Joe Allston of the Danish trip he took with his wife twenty years earlier. He retrieves the diary written at the time. His wife, Ruth, asks him to read it aloud, so that she can relive these memories as well. A poignant and touching story. read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780140139402ISBN:0140139400
Description: Good. Cover creased. Light rubbing to covers and corners due to general use and shelving. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Edition: Edition Unstated
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Penguin USA, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780140139402ISBN:0140139400
Description: Very Good- As issued No Jacket. Spine lean, corner bumps, bump to the head of the spine, handling creases to the covers, and other light shopwear. read more
Edition: Edition Unstated
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780140139402ISBN:0140139400
Description: Very Good- As issued No Jacket. Spine curl, corner bumps, spine is a bit faded, a few dings to the covers, a little soiling to the rear cover, price sticker on front cover, and other light shopwear. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780140139402ISBN:0140139400
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. tightly bound, clean text, wear at edges, prior owner's name embossed on first page. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 224 p. Contemporary American Fiction. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Like New. May be shiny, in some instances dust jackets are not included, no missing pages, no damage to binding, may have a remainder mark. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: PENGUIN
Date published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780140139402ISBN:0140139400
Description: Like New. Excellent condition, like new, paperback. Very, very slight wear along cover edges and corners, pages just barely tanned. Clean and crisp. 0140139400. read more
Edition: Reprint Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: New York Penguin Books 1990.
Date published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780140139402ISBN:0140139400
Description: 1 Copy Available; Near Fine in trade paperback with illustrated cover; 5.5 x 8.5"; 214 pgs; light wear to spine ends, edges and corners; Internals are very clean; previous owner inscription; 5th printing edition. read more
"Joe Allston & his wife are getting old, and Joe feels like his life has been pointless. After receiving a postcard from an old "friend," Joe agrees to read his wife his journals of a trip they took to Scandinavia after their son's death/suicide decades earlier. The book is painful, because you suspect the whole time that Joe has had an affair with this "friend," but the actual truth is not something you see coming.
I loved the book because it was Stegner, and he's such a fabulous writer. But this book was extremely unsettling to me. It wasn't the controversy surrounding the countess's family, but the relationship between Allston & his wife. How do you suspect that your spouse had an affair for 30 years, and never talk about it? But how does Stegner pull it off, making a book about nothing be so...true?
I would have given it 4 stars in the week after I read it, but it doesn't seem as powerful a month later. If you looking for a Stegner book, read Angle of Repose or Crossing to Safety first."
"The winner of the National Book Award in 1976 is truly a marvelous work. The main character is a retired literary agent in CA who is cranky and prefers his garden work to going out to see people. He finds a 20 year old diary which he kept when he and his wife spent a few months in Denmark and reads it aloud to her. This introduces another fascinating story within the framework of an already interesting plot. I cannot recommend this book highly enough."
"Published five years after ANGLE OF REPOSE, I sense there was some leftover material included in THE SPECTATOR BIRD and that is not a problem. Here we have Joe Allston and his wife, relocated from NY to California, and Joe paging through a journal he kept when they fled the States for a brief Wanderjahre to Denmark where Joe expects to find the origins of family. Despite the split between the present and the pages of the journal, there is a consistent tone, so we sense Joe Allston hasn't changed much in the 20 years since the trip. A clever ending binds the novel together. Joe's musings on old age are counter-balanced by his active and persevering wife Ruth - without whom he'd be left at a disagreeable angle of repose."
"Although I wasn't in love with how crummy this book makes old age sound and it actually made me kind of nervous thinking about one day getting there! I did like this book, it was a quick and fairly light read. Later on in the book one storyline in particular was definitely a little disturbing, if you read it you'll know what I mean."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
