All Shall Be Well And All Shall Be W..., Tod Wodicka
All Shall Be Well And All Shall Be W..., Tod Wodicka
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All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well

Author: Tod Wodicka

Narrator: Jason Culp

Unabridged: 8 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/29/2008


Synopsis

Meet Burt Hecker: a mead-drinking, tunic-wearing medieval re-enactor from upstate New York. He prefers oat gruel to French fries because potatoes were unavailable in Europe before 1200 AD; and, at war with the modern world, he enjoys hosting large-scale re-enactments at the Victorian bed and breakfast he calls home.

But Burt has some serious problems. After an incident involving the New York State police and an illegally borrowed car, Burt is forced to join a local music therapy workshop to manage his anger. He gallantly accompanies the group to Germany for a festival celebrating the music of the visionary saint Hildegard von Bingen--but he has no plan to return home. His real destination is Prague: he must find his estranged son Tristan, who, he believes, has lost his way in the Bohemian city.

As we move between past and present, the tragic details of Burt's life are gradually revealed: the recent death of his beloved wife; the circumstances that separate him from his children; his complicated relationship with his mother-in-law. And we begin to understand, with heart-wrenching clarity, Burt's eccentric and poignant devotion to a time other than one's own.

Wildly inventive and mesmerizing, Tod Wodicka's debut is a modern-day Arthurian quest that introduces one of the most winning oddball characters to come along in years.

About The Author

Tod Wodicka was born in Glens Falls, New York, in 1976. He currently lives in Berlin with his girlfriend and their son. This is his first novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jason on June 03, 2008

(My full review of this book is longer than Goodreads' word-count limit; find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].) The longer I'm a full-time arts critic, the more I'm starting to realize just how important the following three facts about the arts......more

Goodreads review by Maggie on December 03, 2013

Although I really can't relate, I can't help but be fascinated with people who are so uncomfortable in their own skin that they reject their gender, species, culture and/or time period in favor of another. And Burt Hecker - protagonist of Tod Wodicka's horribly titled debut novel - is one such perso......more

Goodreads review by Al on April 21, 2010

Dozens of copies of this book were stacked in a second-hand bookshop in Newtown, Sydney, going for $AUD4.95 each... I was intrigued enough by its cover (a reproduction of a detail of Ghirlandaio's wonderful painting 'Portrait of an Old Man and a Boy) and by the blurb on the back. This novel is purpo......more

Goodreads review by Tobey on June 24, 2011

Wow. I teach my students that all stories need conflict. Nobody wants to read a book, or watch a TV show, or a movie (I say) about a person who wakes up in the morning and has just the best day ever and then they hop into bed that night with a smile on their face. Authors mine misery and that's how......more

Goodreads review by Janet on March 20, 2008

It's interesting to read the other reviews on this; a lot of people really hated it, despite the fact that it is a beautifully written book. I loved it. It reminded me of Confederacy of Dunces, with the same type of main character: useless in modern society, probably impossible to live with, fascina......more


Quotes

"Boy is it fun to read All Shall Be Well. Traveling through Eastern Europe with Burt Hecker is a little like heading south with Charles Portis's Ray Midge of being holed up in the campgrounds with Nabokov's Charles Kinbote--uproarious, wholly odd, wonderfully rendered."
--Joshua Ferris, author of Then We Came to the End

"A rare comic novel, beautifully styled and often very moving, which seems funny almost by accident, as if it just happened to discover notes of comedy while it went about sounding the depths of its characters. Wodicka is a superb writer."
--Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead

"An astonishing, beautiful book. It's comic and compassionate, assured in tone and richly poetic . . . unfolding in brilliantly unexpected and entertaining ways."
--Peter Hobbs, author of The Short Day Dying

"Outstanding . . . A vibrant, original, at times hilarious novel . . . A worthy addition to the school of studies in American dysfunction--in heritage, rebellion, the bonds and resentments of family love--reminiscent of Roth or Franzen."
--New Statesman

"Wodicka's wry and subtle prose is a pleasure throughout."
--The Observer

"An assured novel bursting with humor and weighted with sadness."
--Financial Times

"Wonderfully imagined . . . Wodicka has crafted an eccentric tale full of humor and compassion."
--The Guardian