All the Lasting Things

By: David Hopson

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

The Fisher family of Alluvia, New York, is coming undone. Evelyn spends her days tending to her husband, Henry - an acclaimed and reclusive novelist slowly losing his battle with Alzheimer's. Their son, Benji, onetime star of an '80s sitcom called Prodigy, sinks deeper into drunken obscurity, railing against the bit roles he's forced to take in uncelebrated regional theater. His sister, Claudia, tries her best to shore up her family even as she deals with the consequences of a remarkable, decades-old secret that's come to light. When the Fishers mistake one of Benji's drug-induced accidents for a suicidal cry for help, Benji commits to playing a role he hopes will reverse his fortune and stall his family's decline. Into this mix comes Max Davis, a 20-something cello virtuoso and real-life prodigy, whose appearance spurs the entire family to examine whether the secrets they thought were holding them all together may actually be what's tearing them apart.

David Hopson's All the Lasting Things is a beautiful, moving family portrait that explores the legacy we all stand to leave - in our lives, in our work - and asks what those legacies mean in a world where all the lasting things do not last.

©2016 David Hopson (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Flawed, obstinate characters. Still average.

I love stubborn, flawed, real characters and this book is replete with them. But, for some reason I didn't find them to be stirring, absorbing or interesting. I found myself rewinding more than once because my imagination drifted elsewhere -- outside of the book. The story wasn't complicated or rounded. The people weren't very likable, which is a deal-breaker for me. I want to have sympathy for the characters. I want to find them complex, flawed and imperfect, but completely likable. I want them to inspire me to feel and think and dream. Unfortunately I didn't experience these things.

I didn't dislike the book enough to stop listening... so I guess I would call it completely average.

Nick Podehl did a good job of giving the various characters distinct and unique voices. I was always aware of whose story was at play. I think given better material he would be excellent.