Tall Tales from Kansas

There has been a lot of buzz out there in the world of reading about Levi of Golden by Allen Levi. I decided to read it after a friend of mine read it in her book group and thought I might like it.

In the end, I really wanted to like it more than I did. I recall some review where the author was compared to Wendell Barry (which is one of the reasons I wanted to read it), but they must be reading a different Wendell Barry than I am because I found no similarity.

This is the story of an elderly Portuguese man who comes to a college town in Georgia and starts to meet people and quickly establishes a community of friends and acquaintances. We are not sure what has brought him there, or what he plans to accomplish. It feels a bit contrived with a cast of characters who have been through hard things. At times it seemed like a full length fairy tale with the main character delivering parables and soliloquies, veering off on a christian bent that was a bit too much for me.

Despite all this, I finished it because I do want to meet a Portuguese octogenarian and sit on a bench with him and watch the sun set and talk about meaningful things. Which of course is unlikely to happen. David Morse narrates the audible book beautifully. He does a wonderful Portuguese accent as well as a nice southern accent that is not overdone.

Hats off to Allen Levi for doing something he says he always wanted to do and in a way that has certainly struck a chord with many people. You may, like me, want to read it for yourself to see exactly how you feel about. It won’t be a waste of your time, unless you are really opposed to the christian theology. Which I would like to say, for the sake of clarity, I am not completely opposed to. I do stand against any faith that persecutes people in the name of religion – as in christian nationalism.

I would very much like to hear what others thought of this book. Please add your thoughts in the comments if you read it and have things to say.