The Stories of My Lives delivers exactly what it promises, insightful reminiscences of a man who lived many lives. The highly entertaining narrative begins with a confused child in a small Iowa village trying desperately to fit in and develops through myriad chance encounters and unexpected, often hilarious adventures. Numerous fascinating characters, some remarkable some despicable, recur throughout as the writer encounters the challenges, disappointments, triumphs and tragedies of university, love affairs, marriages, children, divorces, dangers, deaths and eventually peace as a reclusive, contented, self-styled curmudgeon living in the Pacific northwest. Carefully crafted anecdotes chronicle over seventy-five years as a misfit boy, janitor, soda jerk, farm worker, bus boy, reservation clerk, columnist, actor, playwright, director, teacher, taxi driver, ice cream man, disc jockey, writer, book reviewer, food critic, reluctant politician, single father, TV performer, union organizer and, in his words, "a more or less useless old man who considers it a good day every morning I get out of bed without help." The unpretentious and often self-deprecating reminiscences may not change your life but they're guaranteed to amuse, surprise, horrify, delight, charm and sadden but never disappoint.