"Like modern-day parables, each of these playful, sometimes poignant stories illustrates the special bond between boys and dads and how their relationship must change with time. Following fathers and sons through three generations, the author begins with his own father, Doc Charles, a kind but bumbling physician in small-town Kansas. When the doctor tries to show his grade school sons how to climb a huge sycamore, he ends up dropping 12 feet flat-out on his back, so stunned that he cant move. After he recovers enough to speak, he declares, "So thats how its done," and in that moment, he becomes an emblem for all fathers-trying to lead the way, failing, then getting up and trying again. When the author eventually takes his turn at parenthood, he finds the new role highly unpredictable. Despite his best efforts to connect with his sons, he is repeatedly perplexed by them and their interests. When he offers his own "climbing lesson" on a trail in Colorado, his sons choose another way to get up the mountain, teaching him instead. And when the aging Doctor must face his own mortality, the generations of males feel their roles shifting.

However, even in the shadow of impending grief, they each find surprising solace from the humor and affection that is uniquely theirs as sons and fathers"--.