“Like so many of the bits of conversation I recall, the meanings hidden in childhood only become clear now that I write them down. Most were just small lessons, people trying to prove their virtue to each other, but because I wasn’t supposed to be listening, I made things out to be more important than they were. Maybe that’s why our childhoods seem so big, so resonant, while our adult years slip by like fish in the river Byk.” 

This book is an out-and-out tour de force. There’s no way that I can recommend it highly enough.