What do you think?
Rate this book
All That Is Left Is All That Matters: Stories
In eleven beautifully wrought stories—ranging from occupied Czechoslovakia to California’s Central Valley to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest—Mark Slouka explores moments in life when our backs are to the wall. Whether battling the end of desire, the fact of injustice, or death itself, the men and women in these stories are willing to use whatever comes to hand—luck, accident, desperate gesture—to emerge victorious.
In “Crossing,” a father hoping to compensate for his failures finds himself facing his past while fording a river with his young son on his back; in “Conception,” a young couple frozen by the possible end of their marriage is offered an unexpected way back; in “Half- Life,” a proud, aging shut- in finds her resolve tested by an extraordinary visitor determined to shatter her solitude. Alternately harrowing and redemptive, these are stories of ordinary men and women, doing everything possible to tighten their grip on life.
In “Crossing,” a father hoping to compensate for his failures finds himself facing his past while fording a river with his young son on his back; in “Conception,” a young couple frozen by the possible end of their marriage is offered an unexpected way back; in “Half- Life,” a proud, aging shut- in finds her resolve tested by an extraordinary visitor determined to shatter her solitude. Alternately harrowing and redemptive, these are stories of ordinary men and women, doing everything possible to tighten their grip on life.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 26, 2018
19 people are currently reading
500 people want to read
About the author
Mark Slouka
18 books109 followersMark Slouka most recent books are the story collection All That Is Left Is All That Matters, the memoir Nobody’s Son, and the award-winning novel Brewster. His work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Essays, and the PEN / O. Henry Prize Stories. He lives in Prague.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 11, 2018
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'Who knows what somber ancestor had passed on to me this talent, this precocious ear for loss? For a while, because of it, I misheard almost everything.'
The stories in this collection are moving and an expression, in a sense, of life and encroaching death be it through grief or aging. In The Hare’s Mask a son is drawn to his father’s past, having been the sole survivor in his family of the Holocaust. It is the saddest in the collection and beautiful. “Even as a kid I wanted to protect him, and because he saw the danger in this, he did what he could.” The use of a rabbit hutch in the story is disturbing and so beautifully written I felt it long after I finished reading. When two lovers run into each other in Then, much older now, life having run its course the way it should they reminisce, fill each other in about what happened in between their parting, spouses, children. In parting she asks to be remembered as she was “Then”, and he does, sharing with the reader their passion like a blazing fire. Youth too is a burning, as painful as deep love. Time feasts on us, and we’re never quite as painfully alive as the early years.
Russian Mammoths reminds us everything is taken away from us without mercy. Working in a garden, the narrator interacts with Ecuadorian children who wait by the fence for the bus every morning, until tragedy strikes. These are each beautiful and affecting, it is at times the living and dying we all face that haunts us more than any wildly crafted tale.
Publication Date: June 26, 2018
W.W. Norton & Company
'Who knows what somber ancestor had passed on to me this talent, this precocious ear for loss? For a while, because of it, I misheard almost everything.'
The stories in this collection are moving and an expression, in a sense, of life and encroaching death be it through grief or aging. In The Hare’s Mask a son is drawn to his father’s past, having been the sole survivor in his family of the Holocaust. It is the saddest in the collection and beautiful. “Even as a kid I wanted to protect him, and because he saw the danger in this, he did what he could.” The use of a rabbit hutch in the story is disturbing and so beautifully written I felt it long after I finished reading. When two lovers run into each other in Then, much older now, life having run its course the way it should they reminisce, fill each other in about what happened in between their parting, spouses, children. In parting she asks to be remembered as she was “Then”, and he does, sharing with the reader their passion like a blazing fire. Youth too is a burning, as painful as deep love. Time feasts on us, and we’re never quite as painfully alive as the early years.
Russian Mammoths reminds us everything is taken away from us without mercy. Working in a garden, the narrator interacts with Ecuadorian children who wait by the fence for the bus every morning, until tragedy strikes. These are each beautiful and affecting, it is at times the living and dying we all face that haunts us more than any wildly crafted tale.
Publication Date: June 26, 2018
W.W. Norton & Company
December 14, 2018
Published this year (2018), Mark Slouka’s second volume of short stories arrives twenty years after his first exercise in the short form, Lost Lake. The stories in this volume are decidedly more on the American side of Slouka’s spectrum of experience. Whereas his first collection to a large extent found its wellspring in the Czech origin of his family, the majority of the stories in this new volume are straight Americana, or, simply “American” stories. As the title already suggests, Slouka continues to be very good at summing up experience into short, clear, encompassing statements. “All That Is Left, Is All That Matters” could very well have served as the title of at least half the stories in this volume, many of them centering on individuals or couples either nearing the ends of their lives, or, facing decisions in mid-life that will dramatically define their futures.
Where “All That Is Left, Is All That Matters” differs from the earlier collection is in its lack of a through line or central theme or image. In his former book, Slouka utilized the lake community as a framework for all his stories, and along with the recurring theme of being of Czech parentage, this created a strong sense of unity to the collection. While the author displays all his other qualities as a storyteller of empathy and human insight, and the language flows as effortlessly and beautiful here as anywhere else in his work, the collection has a feeling of having been thrown together. The first half of the book seems almost as a continuation of “Lost Lake,” several stories are again set in a summer colony of cabins at a lake, and a few other stories point back to Czechoslovakia. The characters are older, following the author’s own advance in age and outlook. However, halfway through the book, there are a series of stories that play with the fantastic or grotesque… a solitary old lady, who may or may not be losing her mind, experiencing and seeing things; a man, whose dog begins to grow razor blades in place of fur. The stories are not poor stories, but they are at odds with the rest of the volume. Following these forays into more imaginary literature, Slouka then closes the collection with a series of very American anecdotal stories. One concerns an incident a roadside bar involving the Hells Angels; another concerns a young hitchhiking couple, who has a close call, and a third reads like a case study of a juvenile delinquent. The book closes with a truly great story, “The Crossing,” depicting a father and his young son on a hike in nature, and the crossing of a river that they must undertake. Beautifully told, and with a powerful image of the challenge and responsibility of a father toward his son.
I suspect that this book was assembled from various stories the author has written over the years. There is nothing to indicate that this is the case, but that is how the book feels. Each story has merit, but the whole feels somewhat less than the parts in this case.
Where “All That Is Left, Is All That Matters” differs from the earlier collection is in its lack of a through line or central theme or image. In his former book, Slouka utilized the lake community as a framework for all his stories, and along with the recurring theme of being of Czech parentage, this created a strong sense of unity to the collection. While the author displays all his other qualities as a storyteller of empathy and human insight, and the language flows as effortlessly and beautiful here as anywhere else in his work, the collection has a feeling of having been thrown together. The first half of the book seems almost as a continuation of “Lost Lake,” several stories are again set in a summer colony of cabins at a lake, and a few other stories point back to Czechoslovakia. The characters are older, following the author’s own advance in age and outlook. However, halfway through the book, there are a series of stories that play with the fantastic or grotesque… a solitary old lady, who may or may not be losing her mind, experiencing and seeing things; a man, whose dog begins to grow razor blades in place of fur. The stories are not poor stories, but they are at odds with the rest of the volume. Following these forays into more imaginary literature, Slouka then closes the collection with a series of very American anecdotal stories. One concerns an incident a roadside bar involving the Hells Angels; another concerns a young hitchhiking couple, who has a close call, and a third reads like a case study of a juvenile delinquent. The book closes with a truly great story, “The Crossing,” depicting a father and his young son on a hike in nature, and the crossing of a river that they must undertake. Beautifully told, and with a powerful image of the challenge and responsibility of a father toward his son.
I suspect that this book was assembled from various stories the author has written over the years. There is nothing to indicate that this is the case, but that is how the book feels. Each story has merit, but the whole feels somewhat less than the parts in this case.
July 25, 2019
This elegiac collection is often melancholy but never sentimental, even as his characters contend with losses both small and enormous. Slouka is strong on the form, with a deft control of language and, in particular, plotting—each of his characters, even the youngest, meets some form of great change head-on and has to shift their own inner map, either subtly or on a grand scale, and it's to his credit that all are different and seismic in their own ways. A recurring young protagonist, the son of Czech immigrants (as is the author), is particularly engaging as he grapples with his emerging awareness of family dynamics during late-1960s lakeside summers.
Notable stories for me were "Dominion," "The Hare's Mask," "August," and one, "Dog," was so deeply affecting and disturbing—yet beautiful, and really masterful—that it made me sob, and I can't remember the last time a short story did that (I don't think I can ever read it again, either.) This is a lovely, very adult, body of work.
Notable stories for me were "Dominion," "The Hare's Mask," "August," and one, "Dog," was so deeply affecting and disturbing—yet beautiful, and really masterful—that it made me sob, and I can't remember the last time a short story did that (I don't think I can ever read it again, either.) This is a lovely, very adult, body of work.
June 14, 2018
I didn’t really know what to expect from this collection of short stories, but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Each story was very interesting, each of them coming from different walks of life, in different settings, and with vastly different plots. But even though each story was different and unique, they all flowed so nicely together. The author’s writing is phenomenal and worked very well with the stories being told. Each of the stories had this incredible atmosphere. However, a few of the stories had bizarre time jumps or side thoughts that were hard to follow. And as much as I loved each of the stories, I wasn’t very excited reading them. They were all pleasant, but not enough to warrant a higher rating. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, and I will likely try to pick up some of his other works in the future.
January 5, 2019
These stories are an exploration of grief, loss and coming to terms with one's our mortality.
Powerful themes indeed, which offered the reader a chance to explore and reflect on his/her own thought on the inevitability of death and the weight of loss. One story of particular note was 'The Hare's Mask.' Such a poignant and powerful story told a few pages.
Powerful themes indeed, which offered the reader a chance to explore and reflect on his/her own thought on the inevitability of death and the weight of loss. One story of particular note was 'The Hare's Mask.' Such a poignant and powerful story told a few pages.
October 2, 2018
Slouka navigates short fiction with attention to the lyricism of language that is often forgotten in the form. The heart is in the storytelling, in the seemingly effortless way that the narratives take hold, painting portraits of loss, heartbreak, and revelation. The stories are just short enough to be digested in a limited timeframe, but profound enough to resonate well into the rest of your day and week. Each story varies in perspective, character, and purpose. But each story is as equally haunting and crucial. Slouka has succeeded in relaying the true intention of short fiction.
January 14, 2019
I honestly considered not finishing this book, but it is so short I would have felt foolish not reading to the end. Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of this one—the stories were a bit flat. However, I did find some that interested me—“Dog” and “The Angels Come to Panorama Heights” were my two favorites.
June 26, 2022
A debated giving three stars to this collection of short stories because the plots tend to be thin or missing entirely. These are slice of life narratives, not (generally) problem-solution tales with clear resolution at the end. But the images are so good, the characters so genuine, that it earns the four.
July 27, 2018
A searing, poignantly rendered collection of stories chronicling the lives of ordinary people battling the forces of love and loss, from "one of the great unsung writers of our time" (Colum McCann).
In fifteen beautifully wrought stories—ranging from occupied Czechoslovakia to California’s Central Valley to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest—Mark Slouka explores moments in life when our back is to the wall. One of the most forceful American writers of his generation, Slouka captures the depth and emotional range of an array of characters—from a young boy attempting to shield his father from painful memories in "The Hare’s Mask" to a lonely man whose beloved dog inexplicably begins to sprout razor blades from her skin in "Dog."
Whether battling the end of desire, the fact of injustice, or death itself, the men and women in these stories are doing everything possible to tighten their grip on life. In "Crossing," a father hoping to compensate for his failures finds himself facing his past while fording a river with his young son on his back; in "Conception," a young couple frozen by the possible end of their marriage is offered an unexpected way back; in "Half-Life," a proud, aging shut-in finds her resolve tested by an extraordinary visitor determined to shatter her solitude.
Like its title, All That Is Left Is All That Matters consoles us with life’s tender humor and unexpected moments of redemption in the face of heartbreak, tragedy, and dislocation.
Out June 26th, 2018
MY THOUGHTS:
I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
I must confess, I had not heard of Mark Slouka before now. And, another confession, I really didn't know what to expect from this book being a collection of short stories. I never was one to read books like this.
The cover is beautiful and the book isn't very thick. So I decided to give it a try. Every story is filled with human emotion that often exposed raw and unbridled emotions. There's a variety of characters and life issues expressed through extraordinary settings, woven into decisive plots and excellent writing. I was pleasantly surprised.
Is this my favorite style of books? No. But I would suggest you give this particular author a try and judge for yourself what you think about the variety of insightful and thoughtful stories woven together by an extraordinary writing style.
In fifteen beautifully wrought stories—ranging from occupied Czechoslovakia to California’s Central Valley to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest—Mark Slouka explores moments in life when our back is to the wall. One of the most forceful American writers of his generation, Slouka captures the depth and emotional range of an array of characters—from a young boy attempting to shield his father from painful memories in "The Hare’s Mask" to a lonely man whose beloved dog inexplicably begins to sprout razor blades from her skin in "Dog."
Whether battling the end of desire, the fact of injustice, or death itself, the men and women in these stories are doing everything possible to tighten their grip on life. In "Crossing," a father hoping to compensate for his failures finds himself facing his past while fording a river with his young son on his back; in "Conception," a young couple frozen by the possible end of their marriage is offered an unexpected way back; in "Half-Life," a proud, aging shut-in finds her resolve tested by an extraordinary visitor determined to shatter her solitude.
Like its title, All That Is Left Is All That Matters consoles us with life’s tender humor and unexpected moments of redemption in the face of heartbreak, tragedy, and dislocation.
Out June 26th, 2018
MY THOUGHTS:
I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
I must confess, I had not heard of Mark Slouka before now. And, another confession, I really didn't know what to expect from this book being a collection of short stories. I never was one to read books like this.
The cover is beautiful and the book isn't very thick. So I decided to give it a try. Every story is filled with human emotion that often exposed raw and unbridled emotions. There's a variety of characters and life issues expressed through extraordinary settings, woven into decisive plots and excellent writing. I was pleasantly surprised.
Is this my favorite style of books? No. But I would suggest you give this particular author a try and judge for yourself what you think about the variety of insightful and thoughtful stories woven together by an extraordinary writing style.
September 9, 2018
I received an ebook copy of this book as part of a giveaway hosted on GoodReads.
All That Is Left Is All That Matters is an interesting look into the life of a collection of individuals and families. From the average, to the thought provoking, to the strange, and in many cases connecting in some way back to the Czechoslovakia and its occupation by Germany during world war two. The endings are sometimes happy, sometimes sad or bittersweet, and some end so suddenly you are left to put together the pieces, but few to none of them attempt to depict life as anything more than the common existence that we all find ourselves wrapped in, even if the events themselves may seem anything but to outsiders.
To be quite honest, this book wasn’t really my thing. Slouka’s writing is not bad, but most of the stories are not particularly memorable in my opinion, either. While I enjoyed each one in its own right, and they would have likely been much more enjoyable if I had read them as individual pieces rather than parts of a collection, my opinion of the stories varies greatly, and many seemed to drag a bit in the middle. There are some stories that I did like a lot, particularly the oddity of “Dog”, though others I forgot almost as soon as I finished them, and world probably have to skim a few lines in order to have any idea of what they were.
Like I said, the stories weren’t particularly bad. For someone who is interested in the little adventures that pop up in the middle of normal lives, this could probably be great. But as someone who has become accustomed to more fantastical and dramatic themes in their reading choices over the years, All That Is Left seemed dull in comparison, so I can’t really recommend it with any level of enthusiasm.
All That Is Left Is All That Matters is an interesting look into the life of a collection of individuals and families. From the average, to the thought provoking, to the strange, and in many cases connecting in some way back to the Czechoslovakia and its occupation by Germany during world war two. The endings are sometimes happy, sometimes sad or bittersweet, and some end so suddenly you are left to put together the pieces, but few to none of them attempt to depict life as anything more than the common existence that we all find ourselves wrapped in, even if the events themselves may seem anything but to outsiders.
To be quite honest, this book wasn’t really my thing. Slouka’s writing is not bad, but most of the stories are not particularly memorable in my opinion, either. While I enjoyed each one in its own right, and they would have likely been much more enjoyable if I had read them as individual pieces rather than parts of a collection, my opinion of the stories varies greatly, and many seemed to drag a bit in the middle. There are some stories that I did like a lot, particularly the oddity of “Dog”, though others I forgot almost as soon as I finished them, and world probably have to skim a few lines in order to have any idea of what they were.
Like I said, the stories weren’t particularly bad. For someone who is interested in the little adventures that pop up in the middle of normal lives, this could probably be great. But as someone who has become accustomed to more fantastical and dramatic themes in their reading choices over the years, All That Is Left seemed dull in comparison, so I can’t really recommend it with any level of enthusiasm.
August 15, 2022
I liked most of this collection of short stories. The majority of them were pretty straightforward; little shots of Americana, frequently mentioning lake life and how immigration/being the child of immigrants shapes a childhood.
Then I got to Dog.
I read this book on an airplane, and if anyone happened to look over as I was reading Dog, they probably would have been a little concerned. I'm getting uncomfortable shivers now just thinking about it. Dog is a dramatic departure from the rest of the book in that it's straight-up psychological horror. The dog starts growing razorblades in its fur and the owner can't bear to part with the dog, and nothing good happens. The story is just this horrifying little pit of despair in an otherwise normal book and it really soured my opinion on the book as a whole. I am not sure why it was included. There is another story that has some unsettling elements, in which a woman has been solitary for so long that you can't quite trust her narration of events. The creepiest part of that one though was a vine. Dog is viscerally upsetting, very gross and will be very very difficult for any animal lover to get through. Is it well-written? Obviously, since it had such a profound effect on me! But I kind of felt tricked by it, since it was so different from the rest of the book.
2.5 stars, rounding up to 3.
Then I got to Dog.
I read this book on an airplane, and if anyone happened to look over as I was reading Dog, they probably would have been a little concerned. I'm getting uncomfortable shivers now just thinking about it. Dog is a dramatic departure from the rest of the book in that it's straight-up psychological horror. The dog starts growing razorblades in its fur and the owner can't bear to part with the dog, and nothing good happens. The story is just this horrifying little pit of despair in an otherwise normal book and it really soured my opinion on the book as a whole. I am not sure why it was included. There is another story that has some unsettling elements, in which a woman has been solitary for so long that you can't quite trust her narration of events. The creepiest part of that one though was a vine. Dog is viscerally upsetting, very gross and will be very very difficult for any animal lover to get through. Is it well-written? Obviously, since it had such a profound effect on me! But I kind of felt tricked by it, since it was so different from the rest of the book.
2.5 stars, rounding up to 3.
August 20, 2018
I loved Slouka’s Visible World and was thrilled to receive this as a Goodreads Giveaway. Slouka is a very fine writer. This book of short stories shows a remarkable cast of complicated, troubled characters in many difficult situations. I had some confusion with his use of pronouns - but if you pay attention, you will figure out the pattern.
June 30, 2024
Several stories where the author built up the background of a lovely story and then just leaves it hanging in mid-air. There is no denoument and no final growth of character. A few where I just didn't even know what I was reading. Apparently, the title was a warning as the author didn't want to actually articulate any of the life lessons that matter, but leave it out of every story.
August 27, 2018
Loved these stories, especially the ones about father son relationships, like the camping trip and the boy who returns to his childhood home by bus after abusive childhood. Chilling and very realistic.
October 15, 2018
The later short stories are powerful and gripping. I can still feel the heat of the desert in Bakersfield and the resigned desperation of the man in the river. A good escape!
November 6, 2018
Excellent, unusual book of stories. I finished it in one day!
February 1, 2019
This is an excellent collection of short stories covering a wide range of topics...highly recommend...looking forward to reading some of his other work...
February 9, 2019
Thi book is a collection of stories that are about everydsy lives.
September 24, 2024
the last one made this four stars 🥲
November 16, 2018
I could not get into this book at all. The stories all blended together and there narrators' voices weren't clearly defined. I didn't care about the characters in the different stories and was bored.
February 7, 2022
Stories that show us that we can overcome and endure by sometimes subtle ways. I like that the stories are told with subtleties and not a dramatic plot twist to which will smack you over the head with its meaning.
Want to read
July 4, 2018#GoodreadsGiveaway
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews