From Publishers Weekly Schaffer was working on the manuscript to his first legal thriller (Misdemeanor Man) when his father， Flip， called with an insistent invitation to a one-week baking seminar at a New York culinary institute. He doesn't look forward to the experience， as the two have never been comfortable together since the father abandoned his mentally unstable wife and left the kids behind. But Flip was dying of cancer， so Schaffer agreed to make one last effort at settling their differences. The bickering between them can be playful， but there's an emotional rawness to their conversations， and the memories they churn up， that confuses more than it heals. "I forgave. But I hate him， still，" Schaffer admits. The baking class is not just a sharply focused backdrop but a buffer from the most painful revelations about the suffering Schaffer endured in adolescence—unfortunately， the class ends halfway through the memoir， and the last sections deal with his father's final days at home. The disruption to the narrative momentum is jarring， but Schaffer's dark humor holds the two stories together. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information， a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From School Library Journal Adult/High School—When Schaffer's dying father telephoned him in California to invite him to take a baking class with him in New York， he was less than enthusiastic， but he accepted. This was the man who had abandoned him and his siblings to be raised by his clinically depressed "lunatic" mother. To Schaffer， his father was obnoxious， but to the other students， he was charismatic. Though the author still saw all that his father had not been to him， he began to see a more complete picture of the man as others saw him， and he realized that， in his own way， his father was asking for forgiveness. The book moves quickly; it is clever， funny， and poignant as Schaffer reveals some basic human truths that will resonate with teens. Juxtaposed with the story of the father/son relationship is the story of the baking school， including some specifics of bread making. Compare this raw relationship with the more mellow one in Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie (Doubleday， 1997).—Ellen Bell， Amador Valley High School， Pleasanton， CA Copyright © Reed Business Information， a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. See all Editorial Reviews