The discovery of his father Raymond's mysterious "treasure box" forces an award-winning writer to reexamine their contentious relationship. As he opens the box and begins taking items out one by one—taking you on a treasure hunt—he is overwhelmed by memories, many funny, some poignant or sad, and a few that may send shivers up your spine. It is in those curiosities that Raymond will be revealed, piece by piece, memory by memory. Hopes, dreams, warts and all. In the end, a different unexpected father emerges.
By the time the treasures are all laid out, Raymond will have earned some measure of redemption, and you will have experienced not just the life of a self-employed upholsterer, pigeon fancier, and believer in ghosts and angels, but a glimpse of times long gone, when horses and streetcars ruled Washington, D.C., and Raymond ran barefoot through its streets.
You will also discover, as the author did, that when you put people in boxes, there's always room for two. So unboxing one, unboxes the other—with surprising results.