Estates Large and Small

by Ray Robertson

Undefeated by decades of rent increases and declining readership, Phil Cooper’s secondhand bookstore finally succumbs to COVID-19 and he reluctantly decides to move the business online. In the newfound quiet of cybercommerce, amidst his reflections on life after divorce, he starts to suspect he’s been smoking a little too much pot, listening to a little too much Grateful Dead, and may be overdue on sorting out who he is and what he’s doing here, and where, in fact we might all be going. So he makes another decision: to teach himself 2,500 years of Western philosophy. Thankfully, he’s met Caroline, an ex-postal worker and fellow book lover, who agrees to join him on his quest. But they’ll have to hurry: Caroline has stage 4 cancer. Thankfully, they’ve got plenty of books, a stash of potent medical marijuana, and the Dead to see them through. It’s going to be a long, strange trip. Profound, perceptive, and wryly observed, Estates Large and Small is the story of one man’s reckoning and an ardent defense of the shape books make in a life.

Genres: Fiction, Canada

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2022

About the author

Ray Robertson is the author of six novels including Moody Food and What Happened Later, a finalist for the Trillium Book Award. He has also published a collection of nonfiction, Mental Hygiene: Essays on Writers and Writing. He is a contributing book reviewer for The Globe and Mail.

Robertson lives in Toronto.

Reviews

[Brad Wojak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t read a lot of Canadian fiction, but I try to never miss a new book by Ray Robertson. This new volume may be his best yet. A great story well told that will catch you in the heart strings. Love this book.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not much to say except I loved it.

[Milan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phil Cooper enjoys living on his own terms, but after the closure of his second-hand bookshop during the pandemic, he starts selling books online. His close companions are wine, marijuana and Jerry Garcia. On one of his many book-collecting visits to a home in Toronto, he meets Caroline and they start meeting up do discuss philosophy and see what can they make of their middle-aged relationship.

Phil hates cellphones and people glued to them “They seem less like another generation than another species.” He is unsocial but lives a satisfied life “I preferred to stay home and get high and listen to the Dead.” He had one serious relationship before meeting Caroline. “I’d rather read a book or listen to a record than change a diaper.” We also meet some of Phil's friends and family. The middle-aged couple are trying to understand and live with changing times. At the same time, they are trying to make sense of the world and the meaning of life. But then life happens.

Ray Robertson's novel is a meditation on solitude, on how a single man who has not achieved much can live a contended life. It also blends in well with the existential questions and some humor.

[Kim Logue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is narrated by Phil, an antiquarian book dealer in Toronto in his early 50's, who is going through big shifts in his life. As he moves forward after a romantic partnership has ended and transitions his failing book business to an online version, he meets Caroline.

As a love story develops, I enjoyed the way the author entwines his usual intense musical enthusiasm (in this case Phil's stoner habit of listening intently to Jerry Garcia recordings), with regular existential conversations around the history of Western philosophy Phil carries on with Caroline, -- making them not just informative, but, in typical Robertson form, also very funny.

However, the passion between these two characters shakes up Phil's life in yet another way, because of a complicated catch: Caroline is dying of cancer.

I recommend this thoughtful, emotional, serious philosophical and yet also hopeful read!

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been sorting and culling my personal library, so reading a novel about a bookseller was timely. Phil (not sure we get a last name) likes to smoke weed and listen to the Grateful Dead. He dutifully visits his mother who has Alzheimers, and begins a relationship with a woman who is terminally ill with cancer. There is in-depth discussion of philosophers and ultimately, what it means to be alive (or to die on one's own terms.) Sounds dark, but it was an excellent read.

[Ron Brunetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this somewhat dark humorous tale of a middle aged bookstore owners life. Set in the times of Covid, living in Toronto, the writer speaks of philosophy, music, (Grateful Dead) and literature, All the while Phil (bookstore owner) needs to cope with his dying girlfriend. Well written and I'd recommend to anyone wanting to read about real love, life, and death.

[Carol Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this rather darkly humourous story of middle aged romance. There was philosophy, music, and literature as well as the relationship between Phil and Caroline - all taking place in Toronto during the dark days of Covid.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written book.