212830
9780140139402
Joe Allston is a retired literary agent who is, in his own words, "just killing time until time gets around to killing me." His parents and his only son are long dead, leaving him with neither ancestors nor descendants, tradition nor ties. His job, trafficking the talent of others, had not been his choice. He passes through life as a spectator.A postcard from a friend causes Allston to return to the journals of a trip he had taken years before, a journey to his mother's birthplace, where he'd sought a link with the past. The memories of that trip, both grotesque and poignant, move through layers of time and meaning, and reveal that Joe Allston isn't quite spectator enough."Elegant and entertaining . . . Every scene [is] adroitly staged and each effect precisely acomplished." -The AtlanticStegner, Wallace is the author of 'Spectator Bird' with ISBN 9780140139402 and ISBN 0140139400.
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