I was a little unsure of this book since it got so many horrible reader reviews on B&N.com, but the critics were raving and it won the Pulizter Prize so I gave it a try. Many of the reades said "it has no plot and is just a long sermon/essay" I find that critique to be lazy reading. This is an old man writing a letter to his 7 year old son so he will know who his father was and what was important to him. It is stream of conciousness and does not follow a chronological path, but that is the point. If anyone sits down and writes a letter in their old age there will be tangents, stories remembered halfway thru, and thoughts on philosophy. Immediately after I finished it I called my father and told him to read it. No matter your religion (I'm agnostic) the Christianity reflected in this book is not trying to convert anyone. It is a belief of the old man and he is trying to untangle the contradictions and beliefs of his faith before he dies.