[close] Anna Cypra Oliver's strikingly original memoir offers both a moving story of self-discovery and a vividly depicted record of a turbulent era. In the late 1960s, Anna's fathera charismatic man from an affluent and cultivated Jewish backgroundand her mother joined a countercultural enclave in Taos, New Mexico. There, while they raised two children amid the chaos of hippie life, the marriage foundered. Within a few years, Anna's mother converted to fundamental Christianity and her father committed suicide. Twenty years later, the discovery of some old photos suddenly sparked Oliver's obsession to learn more about her father. She gathered photographs, journal entries, even doodles, and interviewed all those who knew him. The act of reconstructing a life would not only change her perceptions about her father and the turmoil of her childhood but ultimately would also expand her understanding of herself. [close]