"Iexplained to Tom that dealing with the bully was no different than dealing with the mountainlion.They were both predatorslooking for easy prey."

Poe Ballantine visits his dyingGrandfather Bing, receives free rent in return for evicting difficult tenantsfrom the Totalitarian Hotel, models nude for budding artists, reconnects withhis parents, befriends a lonely Austrian tourist on the Greyhound bus, cooksand gambles in Vegas, falls in love, returns to his wife's homeland of Mexicoto baptize his son, and discovers the true meaning of Guidelines for MountainLion Safety.

In this new collection of essays,Ballantine is at his soulful and penetrating best. At once hilarious and heartwrenching, the author recounts the trajectory of his own journey from recklessadolescence to the responsibilities of parenthood with disarming honesty,always fearlessly confronting those bullies and demons that threaten to blow usall off course.