everyone was drinking like they needed to forget some horrible thing they'd done - Wright Thompson

I've written about my father a lot, too, and while I am not ashamed of his flaws, I did think it was my right to focus on the parts that rang most true to me. It was my job as a firstborn son to protect him in death as I had been unable to do in life.

Julian and his dad were men of different times. That's how it is with fathers and sons. The act of panning a generational divide is the single most important thing either person will do in their lifetime; the relationship depends on making that leap successfully.

Our fathers are often mysteries to us and therefore we are often mysteries to ourselves.