The Spectator Bird

from mamzel

Joe Alston, retired literary agent, is struck by the imminent death of a friend and is moved to pull out some diaries he had written during a trip to Denmark 20 years earlier. He and his wife were still reeling from the death (possibly suicide) of their son and they went to Denmark to see where h...

from snash

The book explores the mind of an aging person coming to grips with that fact, reviewing his life and its meaning with honesty. The reminiscing includes a slowly revealed mystery as well. I found it an excellent book true to my experience.

from oldblack

I really enjoyed most of this book. I like reading about aging men looking back on their lives with regret. I suppose it's a kind of camaraderie which makes me feel better. The main character revisits a time when he traveled back to his mother's home country to discover more about himself as well...

from TimBazzett

I think Stegner may have written THE SPECTATOR BIRD not long after winning the Pulitzer Prize for ANGLE OF REPOSE, and I wonder if he may have been a bit depressed while writing BIRD. Because the book itself is a bit depressing, dwelling as it does on the various infirmities and illnesses of encr...

from novelcommentary

I enjoyed Stegner's novel which brought me back to the narrator,Joe Alston who I first encountered in Stegner's earlier novel, All the Little Live Things. This one takes place a few years latter but the setting is the same. Alston, like the author, lives in Northern California and revels in the c...