In the last year I have read two novels and a little book of poetry by this author. Each has been a top notch experience. Now, having read this memoir, I am a little blown away.

Armand relates his young years separated from his birth mother and then her reintroduction into his life. There is nothing pretty about any of it. This is a story about a hard life, a hard growing-up, of loving people who are very hard to love. It is a life story about survival in the presence of mental illness and the hard realities of life. It is disturbing but ultimately life affirming.

The cliche, What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, comes to mind. David Armand must be a strong man indeed.