I absolutely loved this book, although it is a lot "deeper" than the light reading I'm used to. Raymo's use of language is moving, and the characters are unforgettable.

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Don't be fooled by the title; this book is not a comedy, though there are some humorous, self-depecating moments. This novel is the story of a 43-year-old author with achondroplasia, his unconventional mother and the people who shape his childhood. Beautifully written, with an incredibly satisfying ending.

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"Frank Bois is 43 years old and 43 inches tall. But his yearnings are as wide and deep as the night sky he contemplates from his rooftop in Cork, Ireland. Having lived until now in anonymity, he has just written a memoir that will become an overnight literary sensation. Yet even fame will not be able to shield him from the past: his mother's tragic childhood in Nazi-occupied France, her erotic, destructive relationships with the three men who loved her, and Frank's own enduring passion for a woman he believes is as unreachable as the Milky Way. All of it will be part of the great adventure that awaits him in both the outside world and the universe within...all of it surrounded by the green, misty essence of Ireland, a place where miracles do happen.
Only Chet Raymo, the naturalist and born poet who wrote 365 Starry Nights and The Soul of Night, could have created the extraordinary and appealing hero of a quest we all share - the search for love and meaning here on earth, and perhaps, out there among the stars."

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