In this chapter, the speaker reflects on their parents' unconventional choices and the impact on their family, including an affair leading to their birth and difficult circumstances faced growing up. The chapter delves into the complex emotions within the family, from regret and loneliness to difficult conversations and suicidal thoughts, while also emphasizing the influence of books and literature on the speaker's life and their pursuit of a meaningful existence.
Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and was once given a sword by a king. He is also the New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts, a coming of age memoir recounting his early years in Boston, an ongoing search for forgiveness, and a more expansive definition of family and self.