All That Follows: A Novel

by Jim Crace Narrated by Maxwell Caulfield

Overview

The prodigiously talented Jim Crace has returned with a new novel that explores the complexities of love and violence with*a scenario that juxtaposes humor and human*aspiration.*

British jazzman Leonard Lessing spent a memorable yet unsuccessful few days in Austin, Texas, trying to seduce a woman he fancied. During his stay, he became caught up in her messy life, which included a new lover, a charismatic but carelessly violent man named Maxie.
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Eighteen years later, Maxie enters Leonard's life again, but this time in England, where he is armed and holding hostages. Leonard must decide whether to sit silently by as the standoff unfolds or find the courage to go to the crime scene where he could potentially save lives. The lives of two mothers and two daughters-all strikingly independent and spirited-hang in the balance.
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Set in Texas and the suburbs of England, All That Follows is a novel in which tender, unheroic moments triumph over the more strident and aggressive facets of our age.
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It also provides moving and surprising insights into the conflict between our private and public lives and redefines heroism in this new century. It is a masterful work from one of Britain's brightest literary lights.

Editorial Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2010 - AudioFile

Jazz saxophonist and former activist Lennie Lessing, now approaching his 50th birthday, glances at a TV news bulletin announcing a hostage situation in a suburban English neighborhood. Lennie is sure he recognizes one of the hostage-takers as Max Lermontov, a dangerous man with a streak of violence. Even as he argues with himself about getting involved or staying out of it, Lennie drives to the crime scene. Lennie’s existential dilemma is further complicated by the arrival of Max’s daughter, Lucy. Maxwell Caulfield’s narration delivers the world-weary Lennie, a middle-aged jazzman his wife calls a “sofa socialist.” Caulfield lets us hear and believe Lennie’s self-delusions and self-justifications, and he does wonders with Jim Crace’s languid and loving descriptions of what it’s like to play jazz. Choice listening. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2010 - AudioFile

Jazz saxophonist and former activist Lennie Lessing, now approaching his 50th birthday, glances at a TV news bulletin announcing a hostage situation in a suburban English neighborhood. Lennie is sure he recognizes one of the hostage-takers as Max Lermontov, a dangerous man with a streak of violence. Even as he argues with himself about getting involved or staying out of it, Lennie drives to the crime scene. Lennie’s existential dilemma is further complicated by the arrival of Max’s daughter, Lucy. Maxwell Caulfield’s narration delivers the world-weary Lennie, a middle-aged jazzman his wife calls a “sofa socialist.” Caulfield lets us hear and believe Lennie’s self-delusions and self-justifications, and he does wonders with Jim Crace’s languid and loving descriptions of what it’s like to play jazz. Choice listening. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169121971
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	04/20/2010
Edition description:	Unabridged

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