The Mysterious Chinese Book of Everything

Book excerpt: In The Mysterious Chinese Book of Everything, eleven stories deliver a unique, sometimes tender, often laugh-out-loud glimpse into one man's evolution from a strict Catholic upbringing in Midwestern America to an experimental and unorthodox adulthood oceans away. Whether it's a nostalgic story of the first-time, drop-your-drawers physical of a terrified teenage boy, or the fanciful tale of his efforts to stump Dr. Ng's mysterious Chinese volume, the adventures of author Tim Casart are familiar enough to kindle our own coming-of-age memories and offbeat enough to capture our imagination. Casart's entertaining collection reflects one man's, and maybe every man's, valiant attempt to make an extraordinary life out of the ordinary.