This book was recommended on a podcast I recently discovered called Strong Sense of Place, and it worked for me on so many levels. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversational tone that the author portrayed. It truly felt like he was telling me a story, and my ear was glued to his voice the whole time. I appreciated how honest he was with himself (which is a bit ironic since we don't know which parts are true, do we? A patchwork memory is the shame of a refugee...). The imagery had me glued to each page (rivers of red, like the yolk of sunset burst over everything). I found the writing to be conversational yet profound, and I was all for it. I enjoy books for a number of reasons, but it is not often that I come across a book that has it all. This had it all for me.