Perhaps my favorite quote about memoir writing came from Stephen Elliott, discussing honesty: “Our honesty is bordered by our self-knowledge, and being honest in your writing isn’t about just not telling lies.” In Nick Flynn’s new memoir, he eliminates every layer of protective coating and uses rhythmic and lyrical prose to examine his fatherly abilities, and he wonders if the foggy, surreal experiences of his traumatic past have left him unable to care for his future child.

He details his personal experience witnessing the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center—which were happening a few blocks away from him—and weaves in the tale of the news media, the photographs from Abu Ghraib, the political expedience of the next few years, and how all of these things contribute to shaping us all.

This book, however, doesn’t take a pessimistic view of the human condition. Reasoned optimism is ever present in the patchwork of stories and vignettes—which seem to be pieced together like Flynn’s own unique pattern of thought. In the end, this book is a high-note piece about redemption and the beauty of becoming a parent, and Flynn’s writing is like smooth, fluid poetry. Many parts beg to be read aloud. ~Jared