All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House

Description

With the lyrics of a Replacements song running through his head ("Look me in the eye, then tell me that I'm satisfied"), David Giffels-with his wife and infant son in tow-combs the environs of Akron, Ohio, in search of the perfect house for his burgeoning family. The quest ends at the front door of a beautiful but decaying Gilded Age mansion, the once-grand former residence of a rubber-industry executive. It lacks functional plumbing and electricity, leaks rain like a cartoon shack, and is infested with all manner of wildlife. But for a young father at a coming-of-age crossroads, the challenge is precisely the allure. All the Way Home is Giffels's funny, poignant, and confounding journey through the great adventure of restoring a crumbling house on the way to discovering what the words "grown up" and "home" really mean.

David Giffels is an award-winning columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal, a contributing commentator and essayist on NPR station WKSU in Kent, OH, and a former writer for the MTV hit show Beavis and Butt-Head. He lives in Akron with his wife, two children, and a large number of uncounted bats.