This is a very poignant story. Lots of dry wit humor on the part of main character but also a sadness about him. The neighborhood characters are delightful and eccentric, sad, rebellious. Stegner does a masterful job with his descriptions and anticdotes throughout. Highly recommend reading, especially if you're in the generation who grew up in the 60's, 70's.

The thing that persuaded our book club to give this book such a high rating (4.5 stars - that's high for our club), was, chiefly, the excellent writing. The main character had a self awareness at a level seldom seen - in books or in life. We loved the philosophical discussions, the way the main character was discovering himself at the same time we were discovering him. We all want to go to California and see this land Stegner lived in and described so well. The story was perfect. This made for a better-than-average book club discussion. Highly recommended.

A beautifully written book about life. Set in 1960s California and very reminiscent of that time period.