All That Is

English language

Published Jan. 28, 2014

ISBN:
978-1-4000-7842-4
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3 stars (5 reviews)

2 editions

Review of 'All That Is' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

All that is, it could mean something expansive--a universe, or it could be a complain-is that all? Or it can be the very ambiguity.

I read Salter because he was praised by the lead character in a Broadway play I'd seen, a terminally ill writing teacher. I was perplexed by it starting out in a WW2 naval battle. Me were dying or expecting to momentarily, their brief life being all that is for them. I didn't feel like reading a war story add almost ended my reading right there, but the war ended before I did.

After the war, the main character, Philip Bowman begins his entrance into the world of publishing. Not just publishing, but literary publishing. In other words the books they valued were art. I, the main character of this review, grew up in a world where art was the highest value. It was all that is. …

Review of 'All That Is' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Beautifully written, a tapestry of lives, in which even the most minor character (so long as he's a man) is finely drawn, with a rich history and hopes and dreams. The female characters, not so much. Not at all, to be exact. But my main problem with the book was its complete lack of plot or character development. Which probably throws it into the realm of a picaresque. Make that, a picturesque picaresque.