Much about Peter Hoffmeister's beautifully written book reminded me of The Lord of the Flies. OK, there were grownups in his life but, with one stellar exception when he was in high school, they only made his life more painful, both physically and emotionally. I recognize that child - angry, frightened, brilliant, resourceful and beleaguered. There are so many of us whose childhoods were like haunted houses, who will recognize in Hoffmeister's unsentimental prose the rage and bewilderment at a world that refuses to meet his most basic needs.