By Jim Heffernan
Allen Levi‛s first novel, Theo of Golden made quite a splash in the book world. Originally it was self-published and sold 3,000 copies in 2023, 25,000 copies in 2024, and when Atria picked it up in 2025 it started selling by the thousands every day.
Allen‛s first book, The Last Sweet Mile is a memoir that was published in 2014 and has not enjoyed the commercial success of his novel. Maybe it should have.
It is the story of the last year Allen spends with his brother Gary. The book starts when Allen is 56 and Gary is 54. Gary finds out he has a malignant brain tumor that will kill him before another year passes.
They both decide to suspend their careers and spend time together as much as possible. Gary was a travelling mission worker and Allen was a former lawyer who became a singer-songwriter. Both are never-married single men and devout Christians.
I suppose it struck a particular chord with me because my youngest son died of cancer six years ago. Allen says, “The death of my brother was far more hurtful, and far more final, and far more beautiful, than I could ever have imagined.”
I did find my experience hurtful and final, but I never saw any beauty in the ordeal my son went through. I‛m not sure if it was my lack of religion or a character defect that pushed me into a state of denial, never expecting his death. Whatever it was, it led to a loss I was never prepared for and a sadness I will carry with me always.
Maybe if I shared the brothers‛ deep religious faith, I may have seen some beauty.
The book is filled with tender reminiscing and a lot of scripture. I‛m surprised how accepting I was of the scripture.
It may not be a book for everyone, but I enjoyed it very much. It gave me a new appreciation for the quiet courage my son displayed until the end of his days.
Here are a couple of excerpts I thought were beautiful.
“What is citizenship but the unheroic call to dwell in a fallen world with an awareness that every small, infinitesimal life, lived with integrity or not, has potential bearing on every other small, infinitesimal life in the body politic? What is it but the call to work ethically in the marketplace and on the land, to be wise and generous stewards of whatever wealth God entrusts to us, and to live with kindness, compassion, and integrity toward others?”
“Of course, our hearts break. The world already seems strangely diminished without Gary in it, but we are hopeful and grateful just the same. Having spent this year with him and with one another—in a room where death was so obviously present—we will never look at this world quite the same. Something momentous has been taken from it. And none of us will ever think of heaven the same. It will forever be the place, going forward, where we will find our dear brother and son again. Someone suggested last night that, as Gary approached his end in this world, I was standing beside him as his best man, helping him prepare for his wedding day. It has arrived. Gary was ready. “Who gives this man to be married to the Maker of the Mountains?” “I do, dear Lord. I do.”
Book is available at Cloud and Leaf Bookstore, Manzanita and, maybe soon, Tillamook County Library.
As always, discussion welcome at codger817@gmail.com