At a time when both men and women are reassessing their roles in life, Richard Bode left and unfulfilling career and an unhappy marriage to seek the truth about his life. On a California beach he contemplated the sea and shore and tuned himself to the rhythm of the tides. Seeking answers to questions like, What does it mean to be a husband and a father? What does it mean to be a success, to be someone"s lover, someone"s son? Bode finds surprising answers in surprising places: in a sunset, in a piece of beach glass, in conversations shared and conversations overheard, in memories of his father. Filled with unforgettable moments: a funeral for a drowned fisherman, birds at dusk, and constellations in the night, exquisite word pictures are painted with the same passion and clarity that Gauguin sought in Tahiti. Bode shows us how to see with new eyes the choices we make - from relationships we choose to relationships we flee, from careers we pursue to the ones that consume us. This remarkable and beautiful book has the power, like the sea itself, to reshape our lives. In the words of Richard Bode: "Gradually, if I go with courage and wisdom, I arrive at my destination, a place called paradise. It is not a land free of struggle, a realm devoid of pain or grief. But it is the place where I feel at home, where I am supposed to be."