This is the story of two lives. A son and his mother. The thing is they hardly know one another. Samuel hasn't seen his mother for over 20 years, when she walked out the door one day in 1988, before his eleventh birthday. Despite that they are very much the same person. Shaped by circumstance and choice. Damaged by a similar childhood experience and tied by genes which exhibit a very similar vulnerability. 
 Strangely enough, it is the throwing of rocks at a governor, soon-to-be presidential candidate, that will bring son and mom together once again. Those rocks are thrown by mom, Faye, and for a reason that will not be readily revealed. I got the feeling that the mid-thirties Samuel had been lost for quite some time. He's now a literature professor, yet in undistinguished, small college in Chicago. He spends his free time playing online video games, and clinging to the thoughts of the girl he lost a long time ago, but underneath these things I glimpsed a character with strength. Where did that come from? 
 Faye Andersen-Anderson. My impression of her early in the book: I really don't like this woman. This radical still clinging to the sixties movement; uncaring wife; mother who loved her child, but who cannot bear the emotional weight and so she runs. This early impression was followed by the but that I did not expect: I didn't really know her yet. I hadn't seen the fuller picture. The childhood that shaped her; the hopes and dreams she once had; the things that occur in life which dash those dreams; and a love lost, or at least the chance of one. I saw all this and more after another of the author's beautifully handled segues between the years. This segue to 1968, like the others to follow, transformed the picture I thought I knew into a whole other picture. The Faye of 1968 is not the Faye of 2011. Wait, because that's not true either. At the opening of the book there's a story told of some blind men who were each shown a piece of an elephant. The trunk, an ear, the tusk, etc. Then each blind man described an elephant by what he'd felt. This is an elephant. But each description was different, and so they argued. Later in the book there's this description the young Faye of 1968 contrasted by the many mistakes and actions that combine to make the Faye of 2011, and she may look for the "true" self: 
 "In the story of the blind men and the elephant, what's usually ignored is the fact that each man's description was correct. What Faye won't understand and may never understand is that there is not one true self hidden by many false ones. Rather, there is one true self hidden by many other true ones. Yes, she is the meek and shy and industrious student. Yes, she is the panicky and frightened child. Yes, she is the bold and impulsive seductress. Yes, she is the wife, and mother. And many other things as well. Her belief that only one of these is true obscures the larger truth, which was ultimately the problem with the blind men and the elephant. It wasn't that they were blind - it's that they stopped too quickly, and so never knew there was a larger truth to grasp" 
 I thought that was beautiful, and so adept to Faye's life. I'll take it a step further and say it describes Samuel as well. 
 Here's my highest praise: I did not want this book to end. It was filled with unexpected humor, these funny, laugh-out-loud moments that served so well to balance the serious and the emotional. I loved the characters, and reasoning behind what made them tick. And again, the author does a wonderful job by transitioning the story between the years. I was never bored. 
 I will not go so far to say that this is the perfect book, but when I stop and think about that, I know there is no such thing. If I were to nit-pick, here are two small things I did not love: 
 -	Nathan Hill's writing style is exceptional. I love the long sentence structure, but sometimes it was too much. One chapter literally included a single (yet be it a well structured one) sentence that continued for ten pages. Full truth: I loved the first 4 pages, or so, of that. 
 -	The end of the book felt rushed. For the most part, I'm okay with the conclusion of the story, but it did not match the fervor of the first 550 pages. And one character turns out to be a real assbag. Well, isn't that just like life? 
 Still, I'm staying with 5 stars because overall, it's one of the best books I've read this year. In part, it reminded me of books like I Know This Much Is True and The Goldfinch (not the same story by any means, but emotionally similar). I can't say everyone will like it, but I think many could potentially love it.