Damian's father told him that the first moon landing was an elaborate celebration for his birthday. When a father bullshits so much for his and your amusement, it makes for a happy childhood. This book tackles the twin joys of bereavement and divorce with a brevity bordering on stupidity. It is a reflection of the coping mechanism used by someone whose emotional intelligence would be rejected out of hand by Mensa. Set in Bradford and Birmingham, the twin jewels in the UK's tourist industry, it explores Damian's relationship with his pipe-smoking mother and pie-eating father. It opens the door to his father's battles with real and imaginary illness which kept doctors and morticians busy for years. It captures the joy of a young man's first ride in a hearse and scratches away at the nasty itch of underachievement to reveal an overinflated notion of ability and expectation.