So Long, See You Tomorrow

By: William Maxwell

Narrated by: William Maxwell

On an Illinois farm in the 1920s, a man is murdered, and in the same moment the tenous friendship between two lonely boys comes to an end. In telling their interconnected stories, American Book Award-winner William delivers a masterfully restrained and magically evocative meditation on the past.

©1980 William Maxwell (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A small, perfect novel." ( Washington Post Book World)

Such a beautiful look of the human soul.

So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell, which he expresses his prose so honestly as well as elegantly.

Beautifully remembered

Loved the astonishing detail of turn of century farm life Maxwell had to imagine. His narration, that of an old man remembering his past, was perfect.

No word or scene wasted

A concise, detailed study of someone else's personal tragedy. A great one-shot listen for a long car ride or when painting a foyer.

Sublime

I was initially resistant to William Maxwell reading his own book. It seemed narcissistic to me. Then 40 minutes in, I was so hooked. This is a gorgeous telling of an intimate story. I love this book and his narrating broke my heart wide open. Get.

Great throughout. Missing interview

This was a wonderful short notice. An interview with the author is referenced, but not included. That is disappointing.

Even the dog's life was destroyed!

This is such a depressing book, but I couldn't walk away from it. I finished in one day. I listened to the audio edition that was narrated by the author. His narration was okay, but occasionally I struggled to understand what he said.

Emotional

The author promotes a lot of emotion and I was never bored. Some of the characters were hard to keep up with, specifically the two adult males in the latter half of the story.
Having a disconnected third party relay the story felt like a weird choice but it’s good. The stuff with the dog was very creative and the prose is very good. I could also just be too young/born too late to appreciate more of this author’s prowess. Worth the listen, entertaining.

Heartbreaking. Sad. Too human.

The details in the storytelling are engaging and heartbreaking. So grateful to find this book with the interview when he was 87. Great interview too.

Very enjoyable!

Other reviewers dinged this story for having been read by the author, but I loved it. It was like listening to my long deceased and much loved Grandfather tell me a story.

just wasn't for me

My favorite part of this book was the interview with the author at the beginning. I enjoyed some of the first half which was nonfiction... Including the detail of farm life in the midwest that reminded me of my childhood...But over all it just wasn't my thing.