This is Gordon Lish working the ground he works so well, tilling the soil of memory. From childhood he recalls the elusive prizes at the penny arcade, the lonely-looking yellow flowers that lined the sidewalk to Aunt Lily's house, and the apple strudel at Laurel in the Pines. As an adult, his concerns aren't as simple. This is a litany of Lish history—told at a frenetic pace and in a style that elucidates the connection between the experience and the description—a laundry list of disappointments, frustrations, and sorrows, all of which define the man and the writer.