Baker writes amusingly and insightfully about his obsession with John Updike, telling us in the process a great deal about himself. Updike himself, in a review, calls Baker's book "a close and self-pitiless examination of his relationship with a mental figment derived from a fractional perusal and a few personal glimpses of the author John Updike," and comments, "[O]ut of the books of others we sift a book of our own, wherein we read the lessons we want to hear."

A brief history of the Ukraine as well as an exploration of why some Ukrainians are immigrating to the United States. B&w photographs accompany the text.