Synopses & Reviews
"Part empathetic portrait of troubled souls and part Springsteenian ode to the promise and heartbreak of the highway . . . Told with . . . emotional complexity and subtlety." --The New York Times
Two strangers meet over the hood of a used car in Texas: Marcus, who is fleeing both his financial and personal failures; and Maria, who, after years of dodging her mistakes, has returned to her hometown to make amends. One looking forward, the other looking back, they face off over the car they both want and think they need--a low-slung sky-blue 1984 Buick Electra--and, after knowing each other for less than an hour, decide to buy the Buick together. Parker has crafted a surprising love story about the power of friendship and the ways we must learn to forgive ourselves if we are ever to move on.
"Parker's skillfully rendered story rolls like a restless, unpredictable west Texas river . . . the watershed moments happen not with sadness or blood or pain, but with cascades of laughter. It's through moments of unabashed humor, when Marcus and Maria let go and laugh, that his characters finally, and completely, connect. Which feels a lot like real life." --The Denver Post
"Parker deftly captures his characters' uncertainties and hesitations as they struggle to move away from regret and toward the absolution they so desire." --Booklist
"Stylish . . . Engaging . . . Brings together a pair of unlikely but likeable protagonists." --Publishers Weekly
"Michael Parker's best novel yet . . . [He] extends his geographical and emotional ranges in this layered and nuanced story of heartbroken, debt-ridden, and atonement-seeking creatures much like many of us." --Mark Richard, author of House of Prayer No. 2
Review
"[Parker] brings together a pair of unlikely but likeable protagonists . . . Engaging." --Publishers Weekly
"This is a very funny, very moving novel about being lost and then found, about that rarest gift--shared sensibility--and about being saved . . . I love this book." --Antonya Nelson, author of Bound
"'Car as crucible' might be the thesis for Michael Parker's best novel yet. In front seats and back seats we conjure love and contemplate ruin, as do the wonderful characters in All I Have in This World. Parker again extends his geographical and emotional ranges here in this layered and nuanced story of heartbroken, debt-ridden and atonement-seeking creatures much like many of us. So get in and drive on." --Mark Richard, author of House of Prayer No. 2
Reviews of Michael Parker's other works:
"Michael Parker knows everything about the human heart. He is an astonishing American writer." --Randall Kenan
"What makes Mr. Parker so satisfying a writer: his bone-deep affection for his characters; his love of clear, crisp, pungent language . . . his confidence in the possibility of redemption." --The New York Times Book Review
Review quotes
Review
"Springsteenian ode to the promise and heartbreak of the highway . . . Told with . . . emotional complexity and subtlety." --The New York Times
"This is a very funny, very moving novel about being lost and then found, about that rarest gift--shared sensibility--and about being saved . . . I love this book." --Antonya Nelson, author of Bound
"Parker's skillfully rendered story rolls like a restless, unpredictable west Texas river--calm depths here, turbulent shallows there--as Marcus and Maria communicate (sometimes with words, sometimes with silence, almost always in the car) and lurch toward an imperfect union. This makes Parker's story remarkable. But what makes All I Have in This World memorable is this: While any number of disasters can (and do) take place along the way, and while some are heartbreaking, the watershed moments happen not with sadness or blood or pain, but with cascades of laughter. It's through moments of unabashed humor, when Marcus and Maria let go and laugh, that his characters finally, and completely, connect. Which feels a lot like real life." --The Denver Post
"Don't pass by Michael Parker's book about a 'low-slung sky-blue 1984 Buick Electra' without kicking its tires, so to speak--it's no lemon but a sweet, sinuous, and smart love story." --Washingtonian magazine's blog
"The writing is direct, the characters vivid . . . In All I Have in This World, Parker, in prose clear as the Texas summer sky, gives us a portrait of two people who have tried their best to find themselves by running, literally from home or mentally from logic and good sense. Long may that Electra run." --Austin American-Statesman
"Parker deftly captures his characters' uncertainties and hesitations as they struggle to move away from regret and toward the absolution they so desire." --Booklist
"Parker is an assured and emotionally sensitive writer." --Kirkus Reviews
"'Michael Parker's best novel yet. In front seats and back seats we conjure love and contemplate ruin, as do the wonderful characters in All I Have in This World. Parker again extends his geographical and emotional ranges here in this layered and nuanced story of heartbroken, debt-ridden and atonement-seeking creatures much like many of us. So get in and drive on." --Mark Richard, author of House of Prayer No. 2
Synopsis
A very funny, very moving novel about being lost and then found . . . I love this book.
Antonya Nelson, author of Bound
Two strangers meet over the hood of a used car in Texas: Marcus, who is fleeing both his financial and personal failures, and Maria, who after years of dodging her mistakes has returned to her hometown to make amends. One looking forward, the other looking back, they face off over the car they both want. And after knowing each other for less than an hour, they decide to buy it together. All I Have in This World is a different kind of love story about the power of friendship.
A Springsteenian ode to the promise and heartbreak of the highway. The New York Times
Parker s skillfully rendered story rolls like a restless, unpredictable west Texas river calm depths here, turbulent shallows there as Marcus and Maria communicate and lurch toward an imperfect union . . . Which feels a lot like real life. The Denver Post
Both poetic and starkly real . . . All I Have in This World charts the emotional and geographic journey of two people trying valiantly to move forward. The Raleigh News and Observer
A sweet, sinuous, and smart love story. Washingtonian magazine
"
Synopsis
Two strangers meet on a windswept car lot in West Texas. Marcus is fleeing the disastrous fallout of chasing a lifelong dream; Maria is returning to the hometown she fled years ago, to make amends. They begin to argue over the car that they both desperately want--a low-slung sky-blue twenty-year-old Buick Electra.
The car, too, has seen its share of mistakes and failures. Every dent and seam has witnessed pivotal moments in the lives of others, from the boy who assembled it at the Cleveland factory to all the owners who were to follow: a God-fearing man who sells it when he sees a sexy girl sprawled across it; a doctor who can't dissociate it from his son's fate; and a rancher's wife who'd much rather live without it for all the history it carries.
Marcus and Maria, after knowing each other for less than an hour, decide to buy the old car together. And as this surprising novel follows the rocky paths of the Electra and its owners--both past and present--these two lost souls form an unexpected alliance.
All I Have in This World is a tender novel about our desire to reconcile past mistakes, and the ways we must learn to forgive others, and perhaps even ourselves, if we are ever to move on.
Synopsis
Two strangers meet over the hood of a used car in Texas: Marcus, who is fleeing both his financial and personal failures; and Maria, who after years of dodging her mistakes has returned to her hometown to make amends. One looking forward, the other looking back, they face off over the car they both want and think they need: a low-slung sky-blue 1984 Buick Electra.
The car, too, has seen its share of failures. Each dent and ripped seam represents a pivotal moment in the lives of others: from the boy who assembled it at an Indiana plant to all its ensuing owners--a God-fearing man who sells it when he sees a sexy girl sprawled across its hood, a doctor who can't dissociate it from his son's fate, and a rancher's wife who'd much rather live without it for all the history it carries.
After knowing each other for less than an hour, Marcus and Maria decide to buy the Buick together. As this surprising novel follows the rocky paths of the Electra and its owners--both past and present--these two strangers form an unexpected and ultimately resilient alliance.
All I Have in This World is a different kind of love story about the power of friendship and the ways we must learn to forgive ourselves if we are ever to move on.
Synopsis
“A very funny, very moving novel about being lost and then found . . . I love this book.”
—Antonya Nelson, author of Bound
Two strangers meet over the hood of a used car in Texas: Marcus, who is fleeing both his financial and personal failures, and Maria, who after years of dodging her mistakes has returned to her hometown to make amends. One looking forward, the other looking back, they face off over the car they both want. And after knowing each other for less than an hour, they decide to buy it together. All I Have in This World is a different kind of love story about the power of friendship.
“A Springsteenian ode to the promise and heartbreak of the highway.” —The New York Times
“Parker’s skillfully rendered story rolls like a restless, unpredictable west Texas river—calm depths here, turbulent shallows there—as Marcus and Maria communicate and lurch toward an imperfect union . . . Which feels a lot like real life.” —The Denver Post
“Both poetic and starkly real . . . All I Have in This World charts the emotional and geographic journey of two people trying valiantly to move forward.” —The Raleigh News and Observer
“A sweet, sinuous, and smart love story.” —Washingtonian magazine
About the Author
Michael Parker is the author of seven works of fiction, most recently the critically acclaimed novel The Watery Part of the World. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Oxford American, and many other magazines. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, an O. Henry Award, a Pushcart Prize, and three lifetime achievement awards, including the North Carolina Award for Literature. He teaches in the MFA writing program at UNC–Greensboro and lives in North Carolina and Texas.