Jonathan Carroll's The Wooden Sea was an event. A New York Times Notable Book, it was also selected as a Best Book of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle. Now Carroll returns with a captivating tale of life, death, and the realm between.

Vincent Ettrich, a genial philanderer, discovers that he has died and come back to life, but he has no idea why, or what the experience was like. Pushed and prodded by peculiar omens and personalities, he gradually learns that he was brought back by his one true love, Isabelle, because she is pregnant with their child -- a child who, if raised correctly, will play a crucial role in saving the cosmic mosaic that is the universe.

But to be brought up right, he must be educated by his father. Specifically, he must be taught what Ettrich learned on the other side -- if only Ettrich can remember it!