Palmer's depiction of his upbringing is a brilliant and atmospheric evocation of a disappeared America paired with the emotional gravity of a son's search for who is father really is. At the center of it is the story of his unusual family, who were themselves part of a much larger and more unusual community of variety performers, most of them more at home among each other than the non-performing world. The questions of Palmer's young life defined the path of his adult life, and, as he proceeded to find his own way in this world, he began to find unexpected answers about his father's and what made him who he was.