I am predisposed to sympathize with this book, but I realize that's not actually that uncommon for any man raised in the 70's or 80's. It felt like half the kids I went to school with had a step dad or a father who simply wasn't around, and the ones who didn't had fathers who were stern or unpleasant enough that everyone just tried to stay out of their way. I knew almost no one whose father wasn't distant in some way, shape or form. That just seemed to be what fathers were like.

Kupperman's motives for this book make a lot of sense. His father had an interesting story that he barely communicated to his family, and which he appeared to mostly block out of his own memory. I can definitely understand researching a father's childhood celebrity as a means to understand him better. The sort of frustration that these searches can cause is painfully apparent at times, and it gives the whole book a somber, sad feel.

What I hadn't expected was the amount of interesting history the book would throw in. I primarily know Kupperman from Tales Designed to Thrizzle, a series that's nearly the polar opposite of this in terms of purpose. All the Answers is so direct and paced so well, delivering such a steady supply of interesting ideas that it makes me wish Kupperman would write some straight-up history comic books.

A sad and satisfying read.