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Spectator Bird
Spectator Bird | Wallace Stegner
13 posts | 9 read | 7 to read
This tour-de-force of American literature and a winner of the National Book Award is a profound, intimate, affecting novel from one of the most esteemed literary minds of the last century and a beloved chronicler of the West. Joe Allston is a cantankerous, 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, has not been his choice. He has passed through life as a spectator, before retreating to the woods of California in the 1970s with only his wife, Ruth, by his side. When an unexpected postcard from a long-lost friend arrives, Allston returns to the journals of a trip he has taken years before, a journey to his mother's birth-place where he once sought a link with his past. Uncovering this history floods Allston with memories, both grotesque and poignant, and finally vindicates him of his past and lays bare that Joe Allston has never been quite spectator enough.
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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! 2mo
Crazeedi The Camilleri series is so much fun,I loved it 2mo
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. 4y
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 😂😂 7y
LeahBergen Yes!! And I 2nd the Cutting for Stone excitement of @Cinfhen ! 7y
See All 17 Comments
SG2014 Tinkers is a beautiful piece of writing! Enjoy! 7y
AmyG More Wallace Stegner. ❤ 7y
Demanda Loved Tinkers! 7y
Jbakesmcgee3 Cutting for Stone is absolutely incredible 7y
auntie_jenn Cutting is in my all-time top 5. 7y
LukkiAnn 😍😍😍😍 7y
TNbookworm Loved Cutting for Stone, it is a wonderful read! 7y
Gulfsidemusing Cutting for Stone is excellent!👍🏻 7y
LauraBeth @LeahBergen I could hear you cheering it on too 😀 7y
LauraBeth @SG2014, @Demanda looking forward to reading Tinkers! 😀 7y
LauraBeth @AmyG he's the best 😀 7y
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! 7y
LauraBeth @Bookchipmunk I've heard such great things about it! 7y
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. 7y
31 likes1 comment
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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