Cliff Schrage anoints a grateful reader with the notion that a writer is one to restore the ravaged body of the world. The world here is that of Silas Dillon, an abandoned, tragic youth... one passing through his dark time. I come upon this rarest of novels... this synthesis of life's perplexing nature. I must conclude: this study of human nature, its journey through time, deserves a wide, wide readership. VINCE CLEMENTE - American poet, biographer, editor, Professor Emeritus- Stony Brook University