“Yes, I have thought about it. In fact, I’ve thought about it a great deal. And I’ve asked others about it. But I don’t know if I have an answer either. Other than this. It might not make a lot of sense, but for anything to be good, truly good, there must be love in it. I’m not even sure I know fully what that means, but the older I get, the more I believe it.
There must be love for the gift itself, love for the subject being depicted or the story being told, and love for the audience. Whether the art is sculpture, farming, teaching, lawmaking, medicine, music, or raising a child, if love is not in it — at the very heart of it —it might be skillful, marketable, or popular but I doubt it is truly good. Nothing is what it’s supposed to be if love is not at the core.
page 119, Chapter 21
Table of Contents
Why Theo of Golden?
I first saw Theo of Golden on Book City‘s best seller list earlier this month. I have never heard of this book before this and I did not see anyone else talking about it on the various book related places I frequent. I thought the premise of the book sounded interesting so I ended up picking up a copy of it at the same time I bought Dungeon Crawler Carl.
As of the time of writing this review the book is number 2 on Book City’s bestsellers list with Yesteryear being number one. According to the information on Storygraph, this book was originally self-published by Allen Levi himself back in 2023 and then traditionally published by Simon and Schuster in 2025.
This is Allen Levi’s debut novel and I have not read anything by this author previously. I read a paperback edition (ISBN/UID – 9781668236550) published by Simon and Schuster in November 2025. No author/review blurbs are present on this edition.
Let’s get into it.
The Book
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi is a contemporary literary fiction novel that tells the story of the titular Theo who arrives in the (fictional) town of Golden and who upon visiting the local coffeehouse The Chalice where he sees ninety-two pencil portraits on the walls decides to start purchasing them one at a time, finding the subjects of the portraits and bestowing it to them.
Theo himself is a bit of a mystery. He tell everyone around him that his name is just Theo, no last name. At beginning of the book it is implied that he is a wealthy man though we have no idea why and how he became wealthy. All we know at the beginning of the book is that he is a rich old (86 yo) man who grew up in rural Portugal, has a house in New York City, and has decided to live in Golden for reasons nobody in the town can quite fathom.
What follows is a character study, or rather a series of character studies. Through what Theo calls “bestowals” aka giving the pencil portraits to their various subjects we get to meet a whole host of colourful characters in the town of Golden. From the owner of the local coffeeshop, to the owner of the local bookstore Verbivore (great name bookstore), the university student who plays the cello, the homeless woman and her beloved bike and her penchant for making art with fallen bird feathers – it is quite the eclectic bunch.
I think this is the closest I have gotten to reading a modern parable. Theo of Golden at its core is a story about how the small acts of kindness we bestow upon others can have big effects down the road. How sometimes, the best thing one can do is to have an open mind and just listen. Through Theo’s bestowal of these portraits, he asks the subject to tell him their story and he just listens and ends up befriending them.
This is also a story about love, love for beauty and art of all kinds. Theo is a man who has an appreciation for art, for books, paintings, and music. His fondness for cello leads him to befriending Simon Lavoie, a music student at the local university. His love of portraiture leads him to Asher, the artist who drew the portraits hanging at The Chalice and to Asher’s family.
There is a certain earnest gentleness to Theo of Golden that truly warmed my heart. It eschews the penchant for heavy-handed moralizing that parables are wont to have and instead tells a story of a kind, generous, and open hearted man making friends in this new place he is in. I ended up not caring that I did not know why Theo was in Golden because I was just enjoying embodying such a person in my mind.
I am hesitant to describe any of the various stories and friendships in any great detail because I think this is one of those books where I want everyone reading it to go in without knowing much. I’ll say this much, I found myself feeling a whole range of emotions from joyous happiness to melancholic sadness. Theo of Golden took me on one hell of a emotional journey and I am glad I got on.
Concluding Thoughts
Theo of Golden was a cozy warm blanket of a book. I very much enjoyed my time reading it and I thought that the way the book told the story of Theo and the people of Golden was done in a way that felt natural and realistic. I found myself in a contemplative mood after I read this book, thinking about my own interactions with the people and the world around me and how I could imbue my life with small acts of kindness like Theo did.
I am very glad I picked this book up. Reading books off the bestseller list has been a bit hit and miss for me lately and this one was definitely a huge hit. It also served as a much needed palate cleanser that washed away the dreadful taste of Dungeon Crawler Carl right before it. I would love to read more from Allen Levi. This was a superb debut novel.
That’s all from me, see y’all in the next one.
P.S – I very much enjoyed the small section where Theo gets into the details about what port wine is and how it is made. Now, I want to try some port wine to see for myself.
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