Sentence for sentence, Salter is the master . (Richard Ford). From his experiences as a naval officer in battles off Okinawa during World War II, Philip Bowman returns to America and finds a position as a book editor. He soon inhabits a world where marriages fail as affairs ignite, alcohol reigns, writers struggle, and publishers hustle. It is a world in which to immerse himself, a world of intimate connections and surprising triumphs. But the deal that Philip cannot seem to close is love: one marriage goes bad; another fails to happen; and, finally, he meets a woman who enthrals, then betrays him, setting him on a course he could never have imagined for himself. Written with Salter's signature economy of prose, All That Is fiercely, fluidly explores a life unfolding in a world on the brink of change: a dazzling, sometimes devastating labyrinth of love and ambition, of the small shocks and grand pleasures of being alive. All That Is is a sweeping, seductive love story set in post-World War II America that tells of one man's great passions and regrets over the course of his lifetime and draws together the great themes of Salter's writing: warfare, love, sex and marriage, and what it means to write.
Review:
Achingly real . . . the PEN/Faulkner Award-winner's first full-length novel in more than three decades spans forty years and follows the life, career, and loves of book editor Philip Bowman. After serving in the Pacific during WWII, Bowman stumbles into publishing at a time when small houses reigned. During extravagant literary parties and travels through Europe, he shares his thoughts on authors both real and imagined. And yet his career is merely a vehicle for his loves and losses, connections made and missed. The women in his life are always inexplicable to him. But Salter renders the first blushes of Bowman's loves exquisitely--their giddiness, occasional illicitness, eroticism--and his bewilderment after the relationships fail. . . . Salter punctuates his elegant prose with sharp, erotic punches. -- Publishers Weekly
The best novel I've read in years. All That Is will be treasured by its readers. Salter's vivid, lucid prose does exquisite justice to his subject--the relentless struggle to make good on our own humanity. Once again he has delivered to us a novel of the highest artistry. --Tim O'Brien
A consistently elegant and enjoyable novel, full of verve and wisdom. --Julian Barnes
Enthralling . . . A vividly imagined and beautifully written evocation of a postwar world. --John Banville
A beautiful novel, with sufficient love, heartbreak, vengeance, identity confusion, longing, and euphoria of language to have satisfied Shakespeare. --John Irving
This masterpiece is a smooth, absorbing narrative studded with bright particulars. If God is in the details, this book is divine. --Edmund White
Trade Paperback (A hardback sized book with a soft cover)
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