“Garret Mathews understands the hunger readers have for true reality shows – not the faked-up junk on TV, but the stories of real people who live real lives in real places. And he tells those stories with a deft hand. He clearly knows that words carry the freight that can change our own lives and change the way we look at the lives of others.”

“This book of collected columns is a treasure.”

“A series of encounters with extraordinary ordinary people, great souls at the edges of our lives – Birdie Lee, a 91-year-old bootlegger who laughs at the courts; the 81-year-old veteran of three wars who still suffers with nightmares; the father trying desperately not to cry at his son’s wedding as the couple thanks him with roses. Tales of the heart told with observant wit, humor, courage and the shock of insight…An adventure of the heart.”