Michael Parker (1) (1959–)

Sometimes a novel’s biggest impact on you occurs after you turn the last page and set the book aside. The story sticks to you and won’t let go. The characters have become real to you. I am feeling that way at the end of “All I Have in This World”.

The novel unfolds with seemingly unrelated stories. Two strangers, Maria and Marcus, each focusing on her/his own dreams, have somehow committed acts deemed to be unforgivable by others close to them. An automobile, symbol of the American show more dream, is a third character. However, the car never quite lives up to its promise with anyone who ever encounters it.

The story progresses slowly. How easy it is to make assumptions about others, to fill in the blanks from your own mind. As Marcus comes to see: “There was life and there was the ‘visualized narrative’ of his life.” What happens when life intersects with your dream about what life would be like for you? Sometimes the road forks but you have no real choice.

Sharing becomes a major theme in the book. Maria and Marcus share the car and eventually share their stories with each other. It is a painful sharing that perhaps each can only accomplish with an imperfect stranger who has no room to make judgments, a stranger who silently listens. We can really only see other people from the outside; we can guess, we can assume, but we cannot know their experience. There may not be complete redemption for either of these damaged characters, but in some way, they are able to offer absolution to each other. The novel leaves me with a lingering desire to be less judgmental and to be a better listener. show less

“All I Have In This World,” by award-winning author Michael Parker, is a subtle, psychologically rich, and emotionally satisfying literary novel about the torturous and strange paths that some individuals follow on the way from self-condemnation to self-acceptance. A sky blue, 1984 Buick Electra is the plot element that ties this remarkable book together.

The main characters are a man and a woman, both separately wrestling with hidden guilt due to the hurt and damage they’ve caused show more within their respective family circles. These two injured souls meet on a used car lot in West Texas at the very moment when both decide they want to buy the same low riding, big, blue Buick Electra. It’s 2004 and the Buick is already 20 years old, but it only has 60 thousand miles on the odometer. Unexpectedly and almost inexplicably, they agree to buy the Buick together and share it. Somehow they’ve managed to make an uncanny immediate connection through body language realizing almost instinctually that they are kindred spirits adrift in the same sea of self-recrimination and pain. In order to communicate, they know they need to keep verbal communication to the minimum. This type of intuitive understanding of what the other needs continues throughout their relationship and serves and the foundation of their ultimate strong support and growing love for one another.

This 311-page book is structurally designed as a 267-page novel interspersed with seven linked short stories that add an additional 44 pages. The stories deal with the emotional connections that particular individuals have with this same 1984 Buick Electra over the course of its twenty-year life span from “birth” to “death.” The first story takes place at the exact moment that—“I pronounce you chassis and body”—the Buick is created. All the stories reverberate with themes that compliment and support those running through the main novel. The first two stories are about psychologically revealing daydreams, one that causes guilt and the other that causes release. Another is about an individual successfully navigating a major life-changing transition. Two deal with shame. The theme of the sixth story is about motherhood, spousal selfishness, and the intense pain of dairy cows being separated permanently from their calves a few days after they are born. The last story deals with…well, what else? It is the how the Buick ends up and it is a strange, delightful, and emotionally satisfying way to end this unusual novel.

The book was not easy to read, but it never failed to hold my interest; I was always eager to get back to reading it. What I found most difficult was the almost extreme indirect manner in which author chose to reveal much of the significant action. A lot needed to be inferred from a collection of subtle clues. This style of writing echoed the themes hidden emotions and of body language over verbal communication. It forced me into paying very close attention to every tiny bit of information in order to understand the whole. This created an air of mystery, a necessity to try to figure it all out. I found this challenging and rewarding. Not all readers will be so patient, accommodating, and careful.

I enjoyed this fine literary novel and definitely plan to read more works by Michael Parker. show less

All I Have in This World is the story of two damaged people: Maria, who has returned home after a tragic death forced her to flee ten years earlier; and Marcus, who has just lost his family's land, his girlfriend, and his dream of creating a learning centre. They meet in a used car lot, both interested in the same car, and decide to share it.

A less skillful author may not have been able to make this premise work, but Michael Parker uses the car, including its back-story, to bring depth to show more the characters of Maria and Marcus. This is a beautifully written novel with two introverted, private characters who slowly work their way towards redemption.

The writing, and the story itself, were so real and true. Mr. Parker didn't rely on any "fairy tale" endings or easy resolutions to the struggles of his characters -- real life isn't easy, and neither are the lives in this book.

I can't believe I've never heard of Michael Parker before. I will definitely look for more of his books. show less

Two strangers share a car, and eventually their failures, pains and truths, while coming to terms with past decisions and future paths. Marcus and Maria have known each other for just minutes when they decide to buy a car together and include each other in their life stories. While never entirely believable, the act of buying a car together allows them to share their lives with each other and us, and underscores a theme of the book: what we choose to share and choose to hide, and how that show more effects those around us. Every character we meet, whether through Marcus and Maria, or through the car's history, struggles with the repercussions of sharing- or not. All I Have in this World can be funny, sweet, and sometimes a little perplexing. It may even make you consider a Texas road trip. show less