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The Spectator Bird
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
13 posts | 9 read | 7 to read
Literary agent Joe Allston, the central character of Stegner's novel All the Little Live Things, is now retired and, 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 an old friend causes Allston to return to the journals of a trip he and his wife 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. Wallace Stegner was the author of, among other works of fiction, Remembering Laughter (1973); The Big Rock Candy Mountain (1943); Joe Hill (1950); All the Little Live Things (1967, Commonwealth Club Gold Medal); A Shooting Star (1961); Angle of Repose (1971, Pulitzer Prize); Recapitulation (1979); Crossing to Safety (1987); and Collected Stories (1990). His nonfiction includes Beyond the Hundredth Meridian (1954); Wolf Willow (1963); The Sound of Mountain Water (essays, 1969); The Uneasy Chair: A Biography of Bernard deVoto (1964); American Places (with Page Stegner, 1981); and Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs: Living and Writing in the West (1992). Three short stories have won O.Henry prizes, and in 1980 he received the Robert Kirsch Award from the Los Angeles Times for his lifetime literary achievements.
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blurb
kwmg40
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
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Here are the books I've added to the #192025 challenge in the last couple of months. Making steady progress but it's getting harder to fill the slots, especially since I'm trying to not repeat any authors. The challenge is definitely broadening my reading. @Librarybelle

Librarybelle Awesome job!! And kudos to you for trying to find a different author for every year! 9mo
Crazeedi The Camilleri series is so much fun,I loved it 9mo
36 likes2 comments
review
kwmg40
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
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Mehso-so

A bit slow-paced and contemplative for my tastes. I didn't feel especially engaged with the characters until quite late in the story, but I do appreciate the quality of Stegner's writing and how he explores the theme of aging.

#JoyousJanuary @Andrew65
#gottacatchemall @PuddleJumper (prompt 24: Koffing: Toxic relationship)

54 likes5 comments
review
KCofKaysville
Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
Mehso-so

OK but not fantastic work of fiction by Stegner. I enjoyed it somewhat. Not sure why it won an award. Older guy and his wife looking at his Danish roots and a kind of scandal there.

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KCofKaysville
Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
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I'm going to read this one next, for which I have a copy. I liked his Angle of Repose and some nonfiction of his that I've read.

Ruthiella I‘ve read Angle of Repose and this one, which I highly recommend 3y
KCofKaysville @Ruthiella Thanks!👌 3y
26 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Amiable
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
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Yes!! This is exactly what it feels like when you are surprised by the old person looking back at you in the mirror.

LauraJ I‘m right there! 5y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled 😂 I love this 5y
Kammbia1 I started reading this one yesterday. 5y
70 likes3 comments
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Amiable
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
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This is how my mind works. Exactly. No computers —just the old geezer shuffling around the stacks in slippers. 😬

AmyG Ha! Me, too. 5y
TheSpineView Love that and so true for me! 💝 5y
LeahBergen 😆😆 5y
JacqMac Relatable. Lol 5y
62 likes4 comments
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Dianeham
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
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Tonight my book group discussed Spectator Bird. This book was so beautifully written.

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GoneFishing
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner

The lessons of life amount not to wisdom, but to scar tissue and callus.

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LauraBeth
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
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This was what I bought at the Books By The Pound store. This haul cost $12. I had to really limit myself - there was a LOT more I wanted to buy 😀

LauraBeth @Cinfhen I felt like you were there with me yelling at me to buy the hard copy 😂😂 8y
LeahBergen Yes!! And I 2nd the Cutting for Stone excitement of @Cinfhen ! 8y
See All 17 Comments
SG2014 Tinkers is a beautiful piece of writing! Enjoy! 8y
AmyG More Wallace Stegner. ❤ 8y
Demanda Loved Tinkers! 8y
Jbakesmcgee3 Cutting for Stone is absolutely incredible 8y
auntie_jenn Cutting is in my all-time top 5. 8y
LukkiAnn 😍😍😍😍 8y
TNbookworm Loved Cutting for Stone, it is a wonderful read! 8y
Gulfsidemusing Cutting for Stone is excellent!👍🏻 8y
LauraBeth @LeahBergen I could hear you cheering it on too 😀 8y
LauraBeth @SG2014, @Demanda looking forward to reading Tinkers! 😀 8y
LauraBeth @AmyG he's the best 😀 8y
LauraBeth @Jbakesmcgee3, @auntie_jenn, @LukkiAnn, @TNbookworm, @Lakesidemusing I listened to it on audio last year and loved it so much that now I want to "read" it! ? So happy to see so much love for it on Litsy! 8y
LauraBeth @Bookchipmunk I've heard such great things about it! 8y
158 likes2 stack adds17 comments
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GoneFishing
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner

Most things break, including hearts. The lessons of life amount not to
wisdom, but to scar tissue and callus.

Suet624 I recently read a novel that said that memories were the result of a scar on the brain. Too bad my memory is so bad, otherwise I could tell you what novel it was. 8y
31 likes1 comment
quote
GoneFishing
The Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner

It reminds me too much of how little life changes: how, without dramatic events or high resolves, without tragedy, without even pathos, a reasonably endowed, reasonable well-intentioned man can walk through the world's great kitchen from end to end and arrive at the back door hungry.

6 likes1 stack add