I Am the Light of This World

By: Michael Parker

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Acclaimed author Michael Parker tells the searing and unforgettable story of one decision that irrevocably changes the course of a young man’s life.

In the early 1970s, in Stovall, Texas, seventeen-year-old Earl—a loner, dreamer, lover of music and words—meets Tina, the new girl in town. Tina convinces Earl to drive her to see her mother in Austin, where Earl and Tina are quickly separated. Two days later, Earl is being questioned by the police about Tina’s disappearance and the blood in the trunk of his car. But Earl can’t remember what happened in Austin, and with little financial support from his working-class family, he is sentenced for a crime he did not commit.

Forty years later, Earl is release into a world he can barely navigate. Settling in a small town on the Oregon coast, he attempts to establish a sense of freedom from both bars and razor wire and the emotional toll of incarceration. But just as Earl finds the rhythm he’s always sought, his past returns to endanger the new life he’s built.

Steeped in the music and atmosphere of the 1970s, I Am the Light of This World is a gritty, gripping, and gorgeously written story of loss, redemption, and the power of the imagination, perfect for fans of Ron Rash, Rachel Kushner, and Laird Hunt.

©2022 Michael Parker (P)2022 Algonquin Books

Review

I'm not a good a reviewer so I'm going to tell you to read another review's review! Jonnie Holmes' review on 4/27/23 hits the nail squarely on the head. I'm getting sick and tired of supposedly artistic endings, stories with no resolution. And this story really needed it considering how brutal it was.

I feel very cheated and bereft

I love it when I become fully invested in the main character. Michael Parker created a unique, beautifully flawed, gentle character. Sometimes I wanted to wrap my arms around him and just tell him, “It’s going to be okay, we’ll figure it out together.” I felt like he was snatched from MY life when I wasn’t looking. This is what becomes of an almost perfect novel when the author decides on an artistic ending instead of going with a ‘good’ ending. Or even a hopeful ending. The author probably read Martin Eden in his youth. I have never forgiven Jack London for that ending. Grrrrrrr.

Title does not fit the story.

Simply put, I found this story sad from start to finish. Guess I was hoping for something more uplifting from a book with this title.

Bad narrative

Did not like the talent narrating. Should have chosen someone else.

The store was decent.

Gritty, raw, & tragic

I almost quit listening to this book about 1/3 of the way in (so much sex and sexual violence), but I’m glad I finished. The narrator is stellar, truly one of the best of the best. The story is hard. It’s about a 17 year old boy who is falsely convicted of murder and goes to prison for forty years. It would’ve impossible to think it’s going to be a bright and uplifting story. I don’t know what else I can say without giving spoilers, but I laughed and cried during the book. When Earl read Arthur‘s deathbed letter, I cried for an hour. It was just so moving.

The American prison system is full of Earls, and a lot of them are raped and suffer heartache after heartache. I personally served on a jury for a man not unlike Earl. (We found him not guilty but another jury might have convicted.) Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t end like Shawshank Redemption, and the fact that this book doesn’t detract from its beauty. If you can stomach hearing repeatedly about both men and women being raped, you will be rewarded with an emotionally rich and moving story that will stay with you for a long time.

The light of this world?! HOW?

I am not sure exactly what I was expecting from this story, but I can tell you that it was not the story the title at all hints at. The "beginning" of the story is really 90% of the book. The author does a good job of making you feel all kinds of compassion and understanding for the main character, but then it feels like the story just goes so flat. It felt rushed and like they just filled some pages, but not with heart. And the title? I can not even begin to understand how this is the name of this story. Who is the light?

A Dim Light (as a character and as a book)

I don't normally get a book just because of its title, but this one, drawn from an old spiritual that I know from Reverend Gary Davis via Jorma Kaukonen, at least drew me to read the description, and the musical angle was enough to entice me to give it a try. Sometimes one discovers a hidden gem through these kinds of back doors. Not this time, this book was just OK -- not bad, but not all that memorable.

I like that Earl's narration often incorporates lyrics of songs in its natural flow (sometimes going further and identifying them). I like that music forms a strong basis for how Earl views his world and the people in it. I like how Earl, 17 years old at the start, has his world interrupted so that he re-emerges into a totally altered world forty-plus years later. I like how naive Earl is at both ends of his life -- some have suggested that he is on the spectrum, the characters in the book just find him odd.

But the writing style tries a little too hard, making it a bit confusing (at least in audio format), flirting at the borderline of pretentiousness. I'm guessing the ending is meant to be ambiguous, but I'm somewhat put off by just how different of a light it casts on everything else if you choose to analyze it one way versus the other -- one extreme interpretation is a betrayal of everything I'd come to believe, but that's a risk inherent in trusting a first person narrator.

So I'm going with four stars overall on the strength of the five-star narration but only three stars on story because of the confusing style and extreme ending. Looking at other reviews, this is a love-it or hate-it book -- I see some of the most aggressive one-star reviews I've ever seen, although most of those didn't finish the book, so they may not be altogether fair. I'm coming down in the middle -- didn't love it, didn't hate it.

Blown away by book and narrator

I completely agree with GC's review. The writing is brilliant, characters real, story moving, and narration pitch perfect. This is my first Michael Parker book, and I'm now a HUGE fan. And hats off to Michael Crouch for the incredible narration.

Wish I Had Passed

I despised this book. I thought the dialog was over-written - the main character came off seeming to be a bit dim. There was nothing redeeming about the book. I wish I had followed my instinct and stopped listening after the first hour or so. Least favorite book I've read in the last several years.

Yuck!

The performance was ok the narrator is one I like. But the story sucked ! I tried but couldn’t get into it