I did not enjoy this book as much as I have been enjoyed other Wendell Berry books. I think the main reason was that I did not really connect with old Jack himself. I did feel like the book improved about halfway through. The beginning part I just really did not like him and later I had more sympathy for him and I really enjoyed some of his reflections. My favorite parts of the book were seeing the other characters that I've come to know in Port William. Of course Wendell Berry is an amazing writer, and the book is short and is definitely worth agreed if you are already a Port William fan, but I definitely would not recommend starting with this book.