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(as of May 13, 2026 05:56:11 UTC – Details)
B0FTT3XSRZ, THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING PHENOMENON
A Katie Couric Book Club Pick • A Jen Hatmaker Book Club Pick
“[A] word-of-mouth smash hit.” —The New York Times
“A treasure.” —Hoda Kotb
One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn’t explain much about where he came from or why he’s there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the…, 4,
Reviewer: Leah H.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great story with great character! Laugh alittle, cry alittle, heal alittle!
Review: This was a pick for a book club read and I really didn’t know what to expect. I did it as an audible. From the beginning I was drawn into the story. The reader did a great job with the accent and change of voices for the different characters. The writing was excellent and the way the main character, Theo, drew stories out of people simple by listening and asking questions was so touching and in many ways healing! I found myself laughing out loud at times and crying as well. I loved how Theo drew the gold out of each person as he described what he saw in their portraits, when they couldn’t see the good in themselves.
Reviewer: Kempster
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Paradigm Shift in an Era of Culture War
Review: I read. A lot. It started a long time ago, I guess.Not that I’m a great reader. I have to work at it. And, I’m a perennial note-taker, especially as I turn the page or listen to a lecture (sermon). If I took the time to update that reading list from my podcast website, I’d add a hundred or more books to the suggested reading.So, Kindle knows me. My iPad app has no shortage of recommendations for my next read. When I finish a book, I go on the hunt for my next challenge. I’ll consult the NYT bestsellers (fiction and non-fiction); sometimes there will be a title that came out my last book, or I’ll peruse that Kindle collection, algorithms that target, well, me.Just coming off yet another New Year and birthday, I am growing weary of this endless culture war. This week, we had another State of the Union Address. I couldn’t watch it. I gave it about 5 minutes. That’s all I could take – those robotic Republicans (my former party) jumping to their feet, applauding and cheering every disgusting, false, indefensible line. Remember in his first term, how we counted the lies? It was like the weekly body count from the Vietnam War back in the late sixties and early seventies. We kept score. As the calculation of dead bodies came in, the numbers were staggering – and mind-numbing. The outright lies from the President? Nobody counts anymore. He got re-elected anyway. We’ve grown accustomed to the incessant, perennial prevarication.We expect it.I ran down the list of books Kindle thought I might buy. They seemed to follow some familiar themes – the rise of Christian Nationalism. The MAGA takeover of the Republican Party. “Evangelicals” and their abandonment of Jesus; or their remake of Jesus. The history of the religious right. Christian Nationalism and white supremacy. The Bible and the Lost Cause Narrative. Jesus vs. Paul – which Christianity do we embrace?Yes, I’ve read a lot of that in the past few years.I needed a breather.——————-I wish I could remember how I found this book. Somehow, it got in my queue. I read my free sample. I was hooked. I purchased the full copy, and devoured it.It’s a book about kindness. Generosity. Human connection. Beauty. Art. Love and surviving loss. More than once, as I worked my way through the first few chapters, I felt something. Tears would form on the corners of my eyes. My throat swelled up in a warm charge of emotion. I’d break out in a surprise laugh-out-loud. It was food for the soul. The spell didn’t break until I closed the book.I well may be guilty of overstatement here. But by the time I reached that last page, I felt as if I had been changed. Changed for the better. I took flight with the better angels of our nature.The main character in the book is an aging white guy. He’s rich. He’s traveled the world. His curiosity drives most everything he does. Landscapes. Rivers. Trees. Birds. Food. Music. Architecture. Books. He loves them all and speaks of them as an artist with an expansive soul. He has a disarming way about him. Approachable. People tell him things they tell no one else. He’s safe. He’s known loss. Tragic loss. And he’s made mistakes. As he enters that final lap in life’s marathon, he’s on a quest for meaning. He had his moment in the celebrity spotlight (why, we don’t know until much later), but that time has passed. Now, in the historic Southern town of Golden, he’s just a regular, old, friendly guy. Anonymous, except for his first name: Theo.Maybe that’s why the book got me. I’m an aging white guy, too. I’m not rich. But I’m reflecting on a full life. I’m sorting through the things that really matter.——————–For six years, I’ve been The Beached White Male. It’s been my alter ego.Theo has given me permission to think about the future of my podcast.I’m not quite sure what that means. As I move forward, I just may change the name. The title – Beached White Male – is about me. But it’s never really been about me. It’s been about my guests and my listeners. It’s about our quest to understand a religion that has been adulterated by a movement threatened by diversity and weaponized to retain power, control, and wealth. I’m not alone. Many of my guests have shared their disillusionment in their books, their podcasts, and their blog posts.We look for signs of the end of the nightmare. We remain skeptical, but hopeful.Then comes Theo.He asks a simple question. Do we get caught in the deadly quicksand of despair, or can we take time to contemplate the wonder of the murmuration of a thousand starlings at sunset? Can we gaze long enough into the face of a portrait to see humanity? Goodness? Divinity? Sadness? Joy? Can it be a mirror into ourselves? Can generosity become a way of life?Through the decades, I found sustenance in regular (imaginary) visits to a Minnesota town out on the edge of the Prairie, mainly on Saturday nights. (My DNA reports identify me as mostly Norwegian. My mother grew up Lutheran.) Lake Wobegon is home to the Chatterbox Cafe, Lake Wobegon Lutheran Church, the Norwegian bachelor farmers, and Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility Catholic Church, where all the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and the children above average – compliments of Garrison Keillor, NPR’s beloved storyteller.Like Keillor, Allen Levi has created a nostalgic town in Georgia that he named Golden. The local coffee shop and art gallery is The Chalice, and the used book store, the Verbivore. There’s a fountain in the town square called the Fedder with a bench occupied often by the elder newcomer, Theo.It’s Levi’s first novel. He’s had as checkered a career as mine. A college English major, he went off to law school. For a decade or so, he practiced as an attorney and a judge. To everyone’s surprise, he left his law practice to earn an advanced degree in Scottish fiction at the University of Edinburgh, thinking he might become a professor. Instead, he launched a career in music as a singer-songwriter. Now, in his late sixties, he self-published his first novel. To his complete surprise, it has become a word-of-mouth, runaway best-seller. Off the charts.It’s a treasure.——————-Theo wanders into the Chalice. It’s an historic building that has been restored by the owner to reflect the charm of this Southern town. The coffee is world-class. But that’s not the real draw. On the wall is a collection of some 90 framed, pencil portraits, each one the creation of a local artist. Theo engages each intriguing face, recognizing the extraordinary skill of the illustrator. He’s captured the essence of his subjects. Theo can imagine the personality, the unique character, and the story represented in each face. He sees sadness, too. Pain, even past the smile. He also notes the price tags attached to each – a price Theo considers to be much less than the value. He asks the owner to explain.Who are these people? They are regular patrons of the coffee shop – each has the name of the subject on the backside of the frame. Who is the artist? A local who has developed a modest but highly admired reputation. Why are they not selling? Good question.Theo devises a plan. He’ll purchase each portrait, one at a time, write a handwritten invitation to the subject to meet on the park bench at the Fedder where he will make their acquaintance and present the portrait as a gift.The novel goes from there. It’s a rich exploration of the beauty and wonder of each human story; how subjects must overcome the reticence to meet with a stranger; how Theo’s ability to see the richness of life as his new friends share challenges, disappointments, failures – but also the capacity for kindness, beauty, truth, and love.I’m not the only one who loves this book.It’s all over the internet. Allen Levi had his doubts that a book about generosity and kindness would catch anyone’s interest. He claims that he didn’t even think he would publish it.He wrote it for himself – creating a character that he aspires to be.And I’ll be damned.He wrote it for me, too.(From my Substack Page)
Reviewer: mavo
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A story of art, music and writing
Review: Like the face of heaven. That’s how I see Theo, and I hope this will be a movie.“Theo of Golden” is the debut novel by Allen Levi. He was writing as a personal challenge and just doing some scenes. He began writing in 2019-2020. He had been a songwriter and lawyer. He has no connection to Portugal, which is mentioned in the book quite a bit and led me to try Port wine. This book will lead me to do a lot of things.Theo is a supremely interesting man! More on that other familiar interesting man in a later post.The book will make you want to look at the faces of people. Use a gaze that calms and loves. Be kind and generous. Greet people. Be less fearful and exchange stories. Be attentive. Love people up close. Invest in the art of living. Be beautiful, useful and pleasurable. All which I should be doing, but will now do for Lent.Theo listened with genuine interest, adoringly, encouraging and with gratitude.Newborns look for their mother’s face, a particular gaze that calms, loves and welcomes them. Someone they recognize, run to greet and someone to bond with.Levi signs the books “With thanks for the Theo in you.” He greets kids at a high school three days a week. He reads to second graders. He doesn’t mind being around people not like him.The coffee shop setting is a real place in Columbus, Ga. It’s called Fountain City Coffee. In picking bestowals of the sketches there, Theo looked for someone lost, weary, worried or troubled that the gift would encourage or help.I got to hear him in a Zoom. A group of women from Vermont who lost their daughters came to Georgia on a pilgrimage. He was a steward of clean rivers and water and said the river still flows after death. He went through a “walking season” in losing his daughter.In a book about knowing a person, it is mentioned that a bench is a good way to do this. 7 p.m. was Theo’s meeting time with the strangers for bestowals and ended up being the time of the funeral. He also mentioned “Think Little” by Wendell Berry. Do so and if everyone does, it spreads.Levi was born in 1956. His dad is 98. His mother passed and he lost his brother, whom he called a clone of Theo, at 55. His dad was a forester, explaining his interest in nature. Springtime is an end with a future, said Theo.One character named Tony runs the Verbivore book store and has the Penny Loafers out there because they haven’t spent a penny and they majored in loafing. Theo and Tony end up having Port together and he told Theo is Viet Nam stories. The Penny Loafers were better than a room full of Senators. They lie. Tony ends up being more of a believer of Jesus at the end because he wasn’t before Theo.James Ponder has no degrees hanging in his office. Note the “ponder” mentions throughout. He is a dispenser of advice, secret keeper and agent of calm. Secretary Mrs. Gidley was suspicious of Theo at first but comes around. Ponder was Theo’s landlord and mentioned the 18-inch railing and three flights of stairs before the 86 year old decided to live there.Kendrick reminds me of the custodian who won “America’s Got Talent,” who has an ill daughter Lamisha, who wants to be a physical therapist or artist in the end. Her education will be paid for by Theo as were some of her medical bills. Maria Menendez is the daughter of the “little man” who killed Theo’s wife and daughter in an accident. Maria had cancer.I don’t want to give away too much, but Theo decided to love Asher, the sketch artist, with two hearts. And there is much more to that.Simone wears a wardrobe that honors music on stage and guests who come to listen did the same. Cello intricacies became fascinating to me and I looked up some of the music mentioned. His bow was a gift from Theo. He played Fado for Theo at his concert. It ended up being a requiem with three characters, Kendrick and Basil, the busker. Simone’s parents were there and I wasn’t clear if Theo sprang for their trip. At the end, Basil studies to get a doctorate in American literature.Katherine is the reporter who respects Theo’s wishes while many people she interviews are praise seekers and applause junkies. He was a friend, not a headline.Ellen rides a bike and I’ll just call her different. He gave her a foldable handsaw, cordless sander, drill and wood burner to make feather boxes. I have made one because of this book. She had $1,600 to her name from selling them, but gave the money to the cello fund after she and Simone were assaulted and the perpetrator was never caught.Cleave is the poisonous guy—like a snake, hemlock, black widow or “words with no wisdom guy.”All but Cleve show community in sitting on the same row or pew. They all have sparks of hope.I loved this line: We walk all roads, long and winding. Road to ruin. Easy Street. Road less traveled.I’m so mad that my notes from Chapter 10-28 somehow disappeared. I may reread. This post would be longer. I probably have a dozen favorite books and just added this one.
Reviewer: Sara Black
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A wonderful story – great descriptions of the characters and very well written. I didn’t want it to end. Will definitely read another of the authors books.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This is a lovely book. The story captured my imagination immediately and pulled me right in. I could see and hear these people, see and smell the places, and my heart warmed to the premise of it. It entertained me all the way and the sadness was necessary to the book.
Reviewer: Lilian Mulinari
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Um dos melhores que li. Escrita elegante, personagens interessantes, aborda temas contemporâneos e transborda gentileza, delicadeza, arte, música e principalmente, amor.
Reviewer: Daniela Ac
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: La historia se cuenta de forma muy linda, no es un libro que te enganche pero es fácil de leer, como en la mayoría de los libros hay algunas partes que están de más o un poco alargadas pero la escritura es bonita y en lo personal me dejó un mensaje y enseñanza de cómo vivir el presente y tratar a los demás. El final me hizo llorar como con ningún libro antes. Lo compré en kindle y lo voy a pedir en físico porque lo quiero volver a leer y lo necesito en mi biblioteca.
Reviewer: Ranganathan K
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: An excellent book on how an individual can work in a society in a loving and harmonious way. Light but very interesting reading as the story moves. The end at first looked a bit tragic but it is something that one has to reckon with. An excellent book teaching moral principles in a subtle but convincing manner. THis book is very different from typical novels. One must read just for the goodness it brings about.
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