★★★★★ 5
A story of art, music and writing
Format: Kindle
Like the face of heaven. That’s how I see Theo, and I hope this will be a movie.
“Theo of Golden” is the debut novel by Allen Levi. He was writing as a personal challenge and just doing some scenes. He began writing in 2019-2020. He had been a songwriter and lawyer. He has no connection to Portugal, which is mentioned in the book quite a bit and led me to try Port wine. This book will lead me to do a lot of things.
Theo is a supremely interesting man! More on that other familiar interesting man in a later post.
The book will make you want to look at the faces of people. Use a gaze that calms and loves. Be kind and generous. Greet people. Be less fearful and exchange stories. Be attentive. Love people up close. Invest in the art of living. Be beautiful, useful and pleasurable. All which I should be doing, but will now do for Lent.
Theo listened with genuine interest, adoringly, encouraging and with gratitude.
Newborns look for their mother’s face, a particular gaze that calms, loves and welcomes them. Someone they recognize, run to greet and someone to bond with.
Levi signs the books “With thanks for the Theo in you.” He greets kids at a high school three days a week. He reads to second graders. He doesn’t mind being around people not like him.
The coffee shop setting is a real place in Columbus, Ga. It’s called Fountain City Coffee. In picking bestowals of the sketches there, Theo looked for someone lost, weary, worried or troubled that the gift would encourage or help.
I got to hear him in a Zoom. A group of women from Vermont who lost their daughters came to Georgia on a pilgrimage. He was a steward of clean rivers and water and said the river still flows after death. He went through a “walking season” in losing his daughter.
In a book about knowing a person, it is mentioned that a bench is a good way to do this. 7 p.m. was Theo’s meeting time with the strangers for bestowals and ended up being the time of the funeral. He also mentioned “Think Little” by Wendell Berry. Do so and if everyone does, it spreads.
Levi was born in 1956. His dad is 98. His mother passed and he lost his brother, whom he called a clone of Theo, at 55. His dad was a forester, explaining his interest in nature. Springtime is an end with a future, said Theo.
One character named Tony runs the Verbivore book store and has the Penny Loafers out there because they haven’t spent a penny and they majored in loafing. Theo and Tony end up having Port together and he told Theo is Viet Nam stories. The Penny Loafers were better than a room full of Senators. They lie. Tony ends up being more of a believer of Jesus at the end because he wasn’t before Theo.
James Ponder has no degrees hanging in his office. Note the “ponder” mentions throughout. He is a dispenser of advice, secret keeper and agent of calm. Secretary Mrs. Gidley was suspicious of Theo at first but comes around. Ponder was Theo’s landlord and mentioned the 18-inch railing and three flights of stairs before the 86 year old decided to live there.
Kendrick reminds me of the custodian who won “America’s Got Talent,” who has an ill daughter Lamisha, who wants to be a physical therapist or artist in the end. Her education will be paid for by Theo as were some of her medical bills. Maria Menendez is the daughter of the “little man” who killed Theo’s wife and daughter in an accident. Maria had cancer.
I don’t want to give away too much, but Theo decided to love Asher, the sketch artist, with two hearts. And there is much more to that.
Simone wears a wardrobe that honors music on stage and guests who come to listen did the same. Cello intricacies became fascinating to me and I looked up some of the music mentioned. His bow was a gift from Theo. He played Fado for Theo at his concert. It ended up being a requiem with three characters, Kendrick and Basil, the busker. Simone’s parents were there and I wasn’t clear if Theo sprang for their trip. At the end, Basil studies to get a doctorate in American literature.
Katherine is the reporter who respects Theo’s wishes while many people she interviews are praise seekers and applause junkies. He was a friend, not a headline.
Ellen rides a bike and I’ll just call her different. He gave her a foldable handsaw, cordless sander, drill and wood burner to make feather boxes. I have made one because of this book. She had $1,600 to her name from selling them, but gave the money to the cello fund after she and Simone were assaulted and the perpetrator was never caught.
Cleave is the poisonous guy—like a snake, hemlock, black widow or “words with no wisdom guy.”
All but Cleve show community in sitting on the same row or pew. They all have sparks of hope.
I loved this line: We walk all roads, long and winding. Road to ruin. Easy Street. Road less traveled.
I’m so mad that my notes from Chapter 10-28 somehow disappeared. I may reread. This post would be longer. I probably have a dozen favorite books and just added this one.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2026
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