Big Fish

 I just spent an hour reading Big Fish A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace. As I got to the second chapter I thought this story reminds me of a movie I saw with Ewan McGregor and Jessica Lange. As it turns out this is the book the movie was based on. The story revolves around a son's irritation with his father for all his hyperbole and bull s**t. The poor son just wants the story told straight. The story is told differently in the book and the movie. In the book the father is often gone for weeks at a time but he always comes home eventually. In the movie, the night of his wedding, his father starts telling a story of how he caught a giant catfish using his wedding ring as bait. The son is disgusted and cuts off all contact with the old man until, years later, he learns his father is dying. In both the movie and the book, the father is more of a story teller than an actual father who can have an honest relationship with his son. Great story though, I loved it. I don't think a person has to be a great story teller or have an honest relationship with their child. I think it's possible to do both.