Introduction

An extraordinary literary event, a major new novel by the PEN/Faulkner winner and acclaimed master: a sweeping, seductive, deeply moving story set in the years after World War II.

From his experiences as a young naval officer in battles off Okinawa, Philip Bowman returns to America and finds a position as a book editor. It is a time when publishing is still largely a private affair—a scattered family of small houses here and in Europe—a time of gatherings in fabled apartments and conversations that continue long into the night. In this world of dinners, deals, and literary careers, Bowman finds that he fits in perfectly. But despite his success, what eludes him is love. His first marriage goes bad, another fails to happen, and finally he meets a woman who enthralls him—before setting him on a course he could never have imagined for himself.

Romantic and haunting, All That Is explores a life unfolding in a world on the brink of change. It is a dazzling, sometimes devastating labyrinth of love and ambition, a fiercely intimate account of the great shocks and grand pleasures of being alive. 

Editorial Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, April 2013: By starting the life story of Phillip Bowman in the last days of World War II, Salter sets the tone for the rest of this remarkable book. â??The outcome of great battles could hinge on resolve,â?? he writes, and Bowman is all about resolve. But beneath the deceptively straightforward coming-of-age and growing-old narrative--boy meets girl, loses girl; meets, loses; meets, loses--lurks the deeply personal story of what it meant to be a 20th century man. Bowman is the archetype of the flawed, ambitious, lust-filled American male. Heâ??s Don Draper. Heâ??s Rabbit Angstrom. Heâ??s your dad. Heâ??s my dad. (Also named Phil; also from New Jersey.) Whatâ??s truly astounding here is the writing, from a master who happens to be an octogenarian. Salter crafts beautiful sentences. He creates characters, lives, entire worlds in just a page or two. Heâ??s also capable of some blushingly evocative sex scenes--again, impressive for a man approaching 90. Profound and lush, this is a book to savor. Itâ??s the sweeping story of a complicated, error-filled, fully wrung-out life. A guyâ??s life. A good life. --Neal Thompson

Excerpt

Chapter 1
Break of Day

All night in darkness the water sped past.

In tier on tier of iron bunks below deck, silent, six deep, lay hundreds of men, many face-up with their eyes still open though it was near morning. The lights were dimmed, the engines throbbing endlessly, the ventilators pulling in damp air, fifteen hundred men with their packs and weapons heavy enough to take them straight to the bottom, like an anvil dropped in the sea, part of a vast army sailing towards Okinawa, the great island that was just to the south of Japan. In truth, Okinawa was Japan, part of the homeland, strange and unknown. The war that had been going on for three and a half years was in its final act. In half an hour the first groups of men would file in for breakfast, standing as they ate, shoulder to shoulder, solemn, unspeaking. The ship was moving smoothly with faint sound. The steel of the hull creaked. ... view entire excerpt...

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