Rating: 
Summary: Never judge a book by it's...title
Review: Man sees woman.
Man falls madly in love at first sight.
Woman is cordial but uninterested.
Man persists and pursues woman vigorously.
Woman does not love man and says so.
Man disregards this and plunges headlong into obsession with making her his wife.
Woman pities man.
Man perseveres and asks woman to be his wife.
Woman yearns to be free from her somewhat confining family.
Woman finally agrees to marry man for an imagined degree of "independence"
....but not for love. [Enter complication.]
*Tragedy and heartbreak ensue* Never having the pleasure of reading any of Shreve's works prior to delving into "All He Ever Wanted", I admittedly formed an unfair and premature opinion of the novel based on its somewhat flimsy melodramatic title. However, I was soon to discover that it is definitely a fitting and descriptive cover for the thespian narrative that unravels within. I was also taken unaware that this was a period piece, set in New England in the early part of the 20th Century - a fact I was all too happy to uncover, as I am an aficionado of period works. "All He Ever Wanted" is a heart-wrenching account of unrequited love, obsession, jealousy and betrayal; exploring the most intense (and at times, darkest) workings of the human heart. Dreary and rather depressing, this candid narrative painstakingly chronicles a marriage of convenience gone sadly awry. It is written in the voice of Nicholas van Tassel, an English literary professor at a small college in New England as he ponders upon the memories of his fateful past... One harrowing evening after escaping a restaurant fire, van Tassel happens upon the striking Etna Bliss and is instantaneously enraptured. Here commences their somewhat stifled and confusing courtship. Ultimately, their marriage forces each character to make critical compromises that will change their lives forever: - Man gives up romantic ideal of marriage (knowing full well his wife does not love him) if only to 'possess' her for himself;
- Woman relinquishes hope of marrying someone she loves and settles instead for a man who offers her freedom and a degree of independence (which is ultimately counterfeit). Although the story is a little slow and one-dimensional at the outset, as the plot proceeds the reader will be taken in by the rich detail and character definition that quickly develops. The letters between certain characters were also a nice touch, allowing a glimpse into their personal thoughts - a unique perspective for the reader, digressing temporarily from the narrator's recital. All in all, I must say I was thoroughly absorbed by Shreve's shrewd portrayal of affections that are not reciprocated...a theme all too familiar in the human game of love.
Rating: 
Summary: Listen to this book
Review: Dennis Boutsikaris' reading of this book is wonderful. Ms. Shreve's use of the language of the day (which may appear stilted in book form) and the portrayal of society at that time are both brought alive by Mr. Boutsikaris' acting skills. He portrays Professor Van Tassel as a believable character of his environment notwithstanding his stuffiness. The lengths to which the Professor goes to keep his wife are shocking no matter what era is depicted.
Rating:
Summary: Well written !
Review: Unlike some other reviewers that have blasted this written piece, I found nothing but praise for Anita Shreve's book. Many a man today can learn a thing or two from Prof. Nicholas Van Tassel. His persistence & perseverance in getting something "that he wanted" in a bad way should be admired and complimented. Shreve does a great job in presenting the early 20th Century dating mannerisms that gentlemen were expected to undertake when interested in any particular lady. Many of these qualities I still adhered to myself personally as a somewhat romantic, old-fashioned gentleman.
Rating: 
Summary: Some what disappointing
Review: I bought the book based on some recommendations here. This was my first Anita Shreve book to read. I think we all begin a book with some kind of expectation. For me, I was looking to read more a prose type of story; so please understand that after reading my review. I found the writing very similar to a Sherlock Holmes story. I had hoped there would be more emphasis on Etna's point of view, so the letters she had written were a welcomed relief. If Nicholas had "truly" loved Etna, would he not let her go? But in (my)reality he did not love her. I suppose the book would've been better if Nicholas's character would have come to that conclusion. Nicholas's character was certainly boring. The incident with Nicholas's daughter was ridiculous. Suddenly, I'm reading something out of the 1990's and was a complete turn off. Anita certainly seems to be a good writer. Based on other's comments, I'm sure some of her other books are better.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a great book- don't bother
Review: First, let me say that I usually enjoy period pieces and try to keep in mind what customs and traditions were like at the time. After all, one reads to be entertained and/or educated, right? With that being said.... The only reason I finished this book was to see if the story could redeem itself in some way. I found the main character, Nicholas, to be very self-centered (I guess that is were the title of the book comes from). I felt some sympathy for his wife, Etna, since it seemed she tried to be a feminist during a period of time when women were not considered equals. (Example: it was ok for him to have lovers before they were married, even prostitutes, but NOT ok for her to have a lover(s) before him.) This was the first book I have read from Anita Shreve....I hope her other books are not like this one. I might (and that is a big might) try one of her other books just to see. Can someone recommend one or should I just give up on Anita Shreve?
Rating:
Summary: shreve's least successful,novel
Review: This was a trite novel of no substance with a flimsy plot and dreary writing. There was nothing of interest in the first 3/4 of the book, and a mildly interesting fourth 1/4. If Anita Shreve had not written this novel, no intelligent reviewer would have praised it. I found it a waste of time and obviously a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: What he needed was a heart!
Review: ALL HE EVER WANTED was to fulfill the passion which came upon him during the extremis of surviving a fire -- what Nichlaas Van Tassel got instead were lessons in seduction, expectations & morality. Instead of his wedding night being a venue for marital bliss, it became a pit of his own making into which he fell in a self-righteous fit of jealousy...& lies. What he got was a life, with a wife he didn't want to know, or understand. If you like your stories couched in old-fashioned, classical language, you will like ALL HE EVER WANTED -- it is enlightening & sad. It made me so mad & glad we've come a long way from those times, although I know there are whole cultures who keep these thoughts & morals alive. Anita Shreve has superbly recreated how a professor educated before WWI, & filled with righteous fervor, would think about sex & sin, & what women really were for.
Rating:
Summary: Nicholas¿ story
Review: Author Anita Shreve weaves love, passion, family, secrets, and betrayal in her latest novel, ALL HE EVER WANTED. Shreve takes us into the world of college professor Nicholas Van Tassel and his companion Etna Bliss. When Nicholas meets Etna one evening after a fire in an area restaurant, Nicholas is immediately smitten. From that moment, lives are changed forever as Nicholas becomes obsessed with claiming the woman who ultimately becomes his sweetest joy and his darkest grief. Written in first person, Shreve brilliantly shares Nicholas' story allowing readers to see deep within a man who is pondering upon the memories of his past. ALL HE EVER WANTED is vivid and descriptive with rich imagery and well-developed characters. Shreve is an amazing author who delivers a compelling page-turner to the literary community. Reviewed by Kanika A. Wade
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: Shreve's latest is another winner!
Review: Anita Shreve, one of my favorite novelists, again scores with
her latest: ALL HE EVER WANTED . . . one thing I really like about
her is that ever book seems different . . . she just doesn't follow
the formulaic approach used by many writers to come up with
essentially the same story. This particular tale of unrequited love is set in New Hampshire
in the early 1900s . . . it involves a college professor who meets,
by accident, a woman and then sets out to marry her . . . he
does reach his goal, but does he really? . . . that is the question
that I'm still thinking about, long after I finished the last page. Shreve really gives you a feel for what living in New England in a
small college town must have been like . . . she also has the
male perspective down pat (it is written from the professor's
standpoint) . . . and I especially liked a section wherein the plot
was moved along by a series of letters between two of the characters. For example, here's part of one such correspondence:
Your husband has sent round a note just now asking me to your house
for a drink at half past five o'clock tonight. I feel I cannot decline, but
wish I could speak with you on the matter before I go. I look forward
to seeing you should you be there this evening. In the matter to which
we have been referring in our previous correspondence, let me just say
that the sight of your face on that morning so many years ago has
remained for me a standard by which I judge my own affection
for any woman with whom I am close, and the affection of any
woman for me. I count you among the most fortunate of persons
to have felt so strongly for another human being, however
unhappy the outcome. Is this not the point of our existence? Yet the writing throughout is equally compelling, as evidenced
by these two other parts: Though Etna asserts that her love was genuine, it is Asher who speaks
of passion. "The ferocity of love that lies behind the veil of polite
comportment," he writes. And this: "The sight of your face on that
morning so many years ago has remained for me a standard by which
I judge my own affection of any woman with whom I am close, and the
affection of any woman for me. I count you among the most fortunate
of persons to have felt so strongly for another human being, however
unhappy the outcome. Is this not the point of our existence?" I pondered also the nature of fate and circumstance. Had it not been
for the fire, I doubt I should ever have met Etna Bliss. Did I now wish
that those few drops of oil in the hotel kitchen had not fallen onto
the cooking fire? Might I have eaten my poached sole in solitude and
never noticed the young woman in the topaz silk sitting behind me
and thus escaped both the joy and anguish of the next fifteen years,
only to have met, two months later, say, the daughter of a rare-book
dealer from Thrupp whom I then married? Might I never have encountered
Etna Bliss at all, but rather have seen a woman emerging from a trolley
three days later to whom I gave pursuit and was ultimately betrothed?
Or have been introduced at a faculty party at the college to the wife
of a colleague (no, never; the sentence does not bear completion, for
I should never have stooped so low) . . . or chance upon, in twenty years'
time, after having remained of decades a bachelor, a widow to whom
my academic credentials, not to mention my modest fortune, might
have been attractive? Or, then again, might I actually have met a worse
fate that was dealt to me? Might I have wed the daughter of a physician
who bore me a child who then died as a result of my wife's carelessness?
There are stories more terrible than mine. I do understand this. But
the influence of circumstance upon a man's destiny is considerable,
is it not?
Rating:
Summary: It's so-so
Review: Throughout most of this book I had sympathy for the great professor and really disliked his wife Etna for being so cold towards him and never loving him the way that he loved her. The professor only wanted to make Etna happy and pursued her and offered marriage even though Etna made it known that she did not love Nicholas. By the end of the book when Nicholas becomes an arrogant monster, I found that I could not warm up to Etna because the author had made me dislike her so much from the beginning.
It's a so-so read, but not one of Shreve's best.
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