Etienne was abandoned as a new-born and raised in an orphanage. In his 34th year, he begins to write the story of his life, which is the plot of this novel.

Etienne is an interesting narrator. He suffers from OCD and is very shy. He was raised in an institution, having never been adopted. He is a french Canadian, living in Toronto and working at a bank in the mid-1960s. He has, for these reasons, a unique perspective on the world. He struggles to talk about himself and his feelings and seeks structure, which leads him to write his story has a series of dictionary-like entries in alphabetical order.

Mr. King has given us a unique narrative form to match the personality of his main character. The form tells us almost as much as the words themselves about Etienne and his life. ( )