Synopses & Reviews
Frank Bois is 43 years old and 43 inches tall. But his yearnings are as wide and deep as the night sky he contemplates from his rooftop in Cork, Ireland. Having lived until now in anonymity, he has just written a memoir that will become an overnight literary sensation. Yet even fame will not be able to shield him from the past: his mother's tragic childhood in Nazi-occupied France, her erotic destructive relationships with the three men who loved her, and Frank's own enduring passion for a woman he believes is as unreachable as the Milky Way. All of it will be part of the great adventure that awaits him in both the outside world and the universe within...all of it surrounded by the green, misty essence of Ireland, a place where miracles do happen.
Only Chet Raymo, the naturalist and born poet who wrote 365 Starry Nights and The Soul of Night, could have created the extraordinary and appealing hero of a quest we all share the search for love and meaning here on earth, and, perhaps, out there among the stars.
Review
"[This] is a sophisticated, expansive, witty and moving novel.....Raymo has the nimble, tender erudition of an Italo Calvino. His writing seens effortless but is tremendously skillful." New Scientist
Review
"Masterful...Classic...What it really is, is literature." Pittsburgh Press
Review
"Triumphs as an incandescent, big-hearted yarn." Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
"Touching...Luminous....A powerful revelation of a tortured soul's discovery of what beauty means....Quirky honesty, humor, and often such tasty writing that you are caught unawares." San Francisco Chronicle
Synopsis
When Frank, an Irish dwarf, writes a personal memoir, he moves from dark isolation into the public eye. This luminous journey is marked by memories of his lonely childhood, secrets of his doomed young mother, and his passion for a woman who is as unreachable as the stars.
Tech Q&A
Read the Tech Q&A with Chet Raymo