Admittedly, this was not a cover-to-cover read, but a dip here and there into the book in preparation to go meet the author. Brian Doyle is an excellent essayist, primarily of spiritual subjects, though always approached in an earthy way. He liberally uses life and family experiences to arrive at Truth and meaning and he does it with a good dose of humor and a lot of raw emotion. He himself broke down at least twice while reading his work, which sent me over the emotional edge along with him. I admire his authenticity and his faith and the fact that he is living an examined Life that he shares so freely with his readers/listeners. This particular collection includes some writings about Sept. 11th and homage to 3 friends who were killed in the towers. Though he reluctantly answered a request at the time for his work, he has come to believe that "stories are bigger" than terror and that we bear witness by telling the stories of the victims. I heard him the night before the Paris attacks, so it was a timely lesson. His approach to tragedy and to all the ups and downs of daily life is so honest it is reassuring. If you are looking to make sense of meaningless violence (large scale) or just seemingly meaningless tasks that consume our days, (small scale) start here. ( )