All the Little Live Things
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Joe Allston, the retired literary agent of Stegner's National Book Award-winning novel, The Spectator Bird, returns in this disquieting and keenly observed novel. Scarred by the senseless death of their son and baffled by the engulfing chaos of the 1960s, Allston and his wife, Ruth, have left the coast for a California retreat. And although their new home looks like Eden, it also has serpents: Jim Peck, a messianic exponent of drugs, yoga, and sex; and Marian Catlin, an attractive young woman whose otherworldly innocence is far more appealing—and far more dangerous.
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It may seem overly generous to compare Stegner to Tolstoy or even Shakespeare, but I don't think it's out of the question. With each book I read from him I am further struck by how much of the human experience he captures and by how well he does it.
All the Little Live Things is a book of contrasts more than it's a book of plot. The story revolves around an aging couple juxtaposed with both a young couple and with the children of the 60's in a few of their various incarnations. All are represented in a way that shows not only sympathy for their choices, but a profound understanding of their motivations. Stegner weaves their lives together in a beautiful and tragic story that will remain with you long after the last page.
In the beginning, it can be struggle to get interested in the book because the protagonist is such a curmudgeon, but as the story unwinds it becomes, in what is typical Stegner fashion, beautifully heart wrenching. Stick with it, it's worth it.
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