In his book, Jean-Louis Fournier paints a portrait of his father, a doctor with peculiar manners. This doctor dressed like a vagabond and often made his visits in slippers, without always asking for money for his services. In exchange for his medical care, patients often offered him a drink. Although he wasn't bad, too much alcohol sometimes led him to say outlandish things, such as wanting to kill his wife. He died at the age of forty-three, and his son long afterward remembers the extraordinary and tragic figure his father was. With growing understanding and compassion, Fournier learns that people with vulnerabilities sometimes seek inadequate means to endure the unbearable. This results in a moving and humorous book that has touched many readers.