This has a pretty straightforward plot - man sets out to find his addict son who's been missing for a few weeks. It is about addiction, but it is also about bad, self-indulgent choices, as a romantic partner or as a parent. Self-denial plays a big part as well. I had expected more from the writing. How can a 209 page book use the verb "cheerse" 5 times when it's not even really a word? There also seemed to be no resolution at the end, good or bad. I would have liked to see the protagonist at least face his issues and make a decision to change or not. Like many others, I feel this book could have been really good if someone had spent more time on the editing. ( )

So, I hated this book... until I started discussing it with my book club. And then I found that I loved it. Here's why:

As Greg searches for his son, I come to detest everyone in the book. I don't care about their successes or their failures. At some point, I even stop caring about whether his son is alive or dead. I just want to be done with this book, which I feel compelled to finish in order to be able to discuss at our next meeting.

When I started talking about the book, I held back none of my loathing. Neither did anyone else.

And then I was asked this question, "Is there a passage that strikes you as particularly profound?" And there it was. Appreciation for the book.

Greg's son writes him a letter. In the letter, is the phrase, "I reject your narrative." Suddenly, I was forced to look at the novel, the characters, the plot, and realize that it was more an exploration of the reality that we create for ourselves than it was a standard plot-driven book.

It was a difficult read, but after thinking about it in this fashion, I was also able to describe it as compelling... beyond the need to finish it to live up to the expectations of others. ( )

This is the story of an obese, retired man, Greg, who leaves his home in a rented RV to find his missing son, whose drug addiction has been a source of constant concern for many years. Greg is armed with a bag of food from the refrigerator and the knowledge that he will stop at White Castle for a bag of hamburgers. He goes to the home of his first wife and the mother of his son in Florida and then on to his father's apartment in an assisted living facility searching for his son. There is no news. As he travels, he is besieged by painful memories of his life as a child, a husband and a father. This is a powerful cautionary tale about the epidemic of addiction happening in America, which runs the gamut from drugs to alcohol to food to entertainment to instant gratification. ( )