Bill from My Father

Bernard Cooper''s new memoir is searing, soulful, and filled with uncommon psychological nuance and laugh-out-loud humor. Like Tobias Wolff''s This Boy''s Life, Cooper''s account of growing up and coming to terms with a bewildering father is a triumph of contemporary autobiography.

Edward Cooper is a hard man to know.Dour and exuberant by turns, his moods dictate the always uncertain climate of t...