---
product_id: 34662905
title: "All That Man Is: A Novel"
price: "₨28562"
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reviews_count: 11
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---

# All That Man Is: A Novel

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All That Man Is: A Novel [Szalay, David] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. All That Man Is: A Novel

Review: Engrossing stories masterfully written. - This book is actually a series of short stories, each pertaining to different men at different stages in their lives. These characters are well-drawn and each will likely remind the reader of someone they know or have heard about. The stories are related to each other in two ways, as I see it. First the characters are defined by their (generally poor) relationships to friends, spouses and children Second, each is in a crisis largely of his own making which is either directly related to these relationships, or is exacerbated by the quality of those relationships. The common theme is that these characters are isolated and lonely. Many are in a state of despair, wondering about the meaning of the life they have created, deprived of true friendships and lacking in spirituality. The stories are extremely well-written, with an artists eye toward detail and texture. The settings are part of the story, often reflecting the mood and disposition of the characters. This book is not recommended for people who are depressed or those looking for a pleasant escape. This is a serious book that should lead to an examination of one's own life.
Review: Brilliant but somber - The sheer quality of the writing deserves five stars, but I have ungenerously given the book only four, because of what I would call its extremely reductive rendering of human possibilities. The title, of course, could mean 'the abundance that man is capable of' or 'the puny limit of human potential'; and it's very much the latter sense that applies here. The nine stories that make up this 'novel' are thematically linked in their pitiless portrayal of lives that have no meaning, of characters that are left wondering 'Is this all there is to life?' All the characters are men, ranging in age from about seventeen to seventy-three, and ranging in temperament from coldly selfish to existentially terrified. Sorry, I know that's vague, but I'm not going to provide potted summaries of nine stories. One could, though, generalize about what they don't have: there is no humour, almost no human warmth (the only exception I can think of is in the last story, the affection an elderly repressed homosexual feels for his daughter), no love (again with that one exception), no friendship, with people spending time with each other only because being on their own would be worse. The author has an impressive command of places in Europe one would not necessarily want to visit, and he does not spare us the details, almost without exception bleak. Cyprus in particular would seem to be best avoided as a holiday destination, with Croatia a close second. And don't go skiing in France. All the characters travel, and the keynote here is struck by the young man in the first story who exasperates his travelling companion by constantly wondering aloud why one would want to travel. Certainly nothing in the remaining eight stories provides an answer to that one. So why did I not stop reading after the first story? Well, a bit like Houellebecq, the sheer dreadfulness exerts a kind of fascination : can things really be this awful? And can it get any worse? (It does: there is a scene in a Chinese restaurant in Croatia that still makes me feel ill.) And then, yes, the writing is truly brilliant. Only a consummate writer could come up with such an infinite variety of morbid states of mind. There is even something exhilarating about it.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,229,384 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #829 in Short Stories (Books) #1,985 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (3,066) |
| Dimensions  | 6.41 x 1.17 x 9.31 inches |
| Edition  | First Edition |
| ISBN-10  | 1555977537 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-1555977535 |
| Item Weight  | 1.3 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 272 pages |
| Publication date  | October 4, 2016 |
| Publisher  | Graywolf Press |

## Images

![All That Man Is: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Wdlf7V5RL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Engrossing stories masterfully written.
*by G***R on January 26, 2017*

This book is actually a series of short stories, each pertaining to different men at different stages in their lives. These characters are well-drawn and each will likely remind the reader of someone they know or have heard about. The stories are related to each other in two ways, as I see it. First the characters are defined by their (generally poor) relationships to friends, spouses and children Second, each is in a crisis largely of his own making which is either directly related to these relationships, or is exacerbated by the quality of those relationships. The common theme is that these characters are isolated and lonely. Many are in a state of despair, wondering about the meaning of the life they have created, deprived of true friendships and lacking in spirituality. The stories are extremely well-written, with an artists eye toward detail and texture. The settings are part of the story, often reflecting the mood and disposition of the characters. This book is not recommended for people who are depressed or those looking for a pleasant escape. This is a serious book that should lead to an examination of one's own life.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brilliant but somber
*by M***S on February 1, 2017*

The sheer quality of the writing deserves five stars, but I have ungenerously given the book only four, because of what I would call its extremely reductive rendering of human possibilities. The title, of course, could mean 'the abundance that man is capable of' or 'the puny limit of human potential'; and it's very much the latter sense that applies here. The nine stories that make up this 'novel' are thematically linked in their pitiless portrayal of lives that have no meaning, of characters that are left wondering 'Is this all there is to life?' All the characters are men, ranging in age from about seventeen to seventy-three, and ranging in temperament from coldly selfish to existentially terrified. Sorry, I know that's vague, but I'm not going to provide potted summaries of nine stories. One could, though, generalize about what they don't have: there is no humour, almost no human warmth (the only exception I can think of is in the last story, the affection an elderly repressed homosexual feels for his daughter), no love (again with that one exception), no friendship, with people spending time with each other only because being on their own would be worse. The author has an impressive command of places in Europe one would not necessarily want to visit, and he does not spare us the details, almost without exception bleak. Cyprus in particular would seem to be best avoided as a holiday destination, with Croatia a close second. And don't go skiing in France. All the characters travel, and the keynote here is struck by the young man in the first story who exasperates his travelling companion by constantly wondering aloud why one would want to travel. Certainly nothing in the remaining eight stories provides an answer to that one. So why did I not stop reading after the first story? Well, a bit like Houellebecq, the sheer dreadfulness exerts a kind of fascination : can things really be this awful? And can it get any worse? (It does: there is a scene in a Chinese restaurant in Croatia that still makes me feel ill.) And then, yes, the writing is truly brilliant. Only a consummate writer could come up with such an infinite variety of morbid states of mind. There is even something exhilarating about it.

### ⭐⭐⭐ This is what man is if you focus on the unrealized, wasted, underbelly of manhood
*by V***T on November 12, 2018*

I read this book because it was a finalist for the Booker prize. The good - the characters are beautifully developed. The prose flows nicely and you do want to read through it. The scenes make you experience intimately what is going on. You associate with the feelings of the characters. The bad - is this what man is? Short stories like these are what, earlier in life, turned me off avant-garde fiction. This is no different. Banal lives and their banal experiences - heck, that is most of most, if not all, peoples' lives. If I wanted to wallow in the pain of banality, I could just let my life go and then simply watch it waste away. I gave up on this book after reading through the first three short stories. I think they were beautifully, sadly, tragically written. I hate them.

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*Last updated: 2026-05-10*