At eighty-eight, David Jacobson sits down to do what most of us put off forever: gather every scattered piece of a life and lay them out where they can finally be seen.

He was born in San Francisco in 1937 to two alcoholics who could not stop drinking long enough to keep him safe. By the time he was a boy, he had survived polio in a county hospital ward, stretches inside institutions that swallowed children like him, and the daily, grinding work of raising himself in a house where the adults had already given up. He thought, more than once, about not making it to adulthood.

He made it anyway.

Putting the Pieces Together is the memoir of that survival and everything that came after it, the Air Force years, an African adventure, an unlikely Cold War friendship with Russians, the University of New Mexico, marriage to Glenda (his partner now for sixty-seven years), two children, a career on the early frontier of computing, brothers lost and remembered, a quiet retirement spent making digital art and crossing the country in an RV, and the long, surprising stretch of joyful years in Sun City, Texas that he calls the best of his life.

Told in fifteen "pieces" and illustrated with the author's own original digital artwork, this is a book about the slow arithmetic of a life, how the worst beginning does not have to be the whole story, how strangers and friends quietly save us, and how a person who once counted the days until he could escape his own childhood can look back at eighty-eight and call the picture good.

For readers of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes, Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, and Tara Westover's Educated, memoirs of children who grew up inside their parents' addictions and chaos and walked out the other side with something to say. For anyone who has ever wondered whether the early pieces of their life can still be assembled into something whole.

They can. This book is the proof.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Save up to 90% on your favorite items at BargainBookStores.com! Our 20,000 square foot warehouse in Grand Rapids, Michigan is filled with hundreds of thousands of books and consumer goods, all at the lowest prices! We've been serving internet customers with great deals since 2001. All books ship from Grand Rapids, Michigan. 100% Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed We want to ensure your satisfaction. If you are dissatisfied with your purchase or shopping experience, we would like to hear from you. Please contact us by email: cs@bargainbookstores.com. Please be sure to include your contact information and order number. We do not charge a restocking fee for returns. Your Privacy BargainBookStores.com does not provide, sell or market customer information to other businesses or organizations.

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

BargainBookStores
3423 Lousma Dr SE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49548, U.S.A.

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

BargainBookStores guarantees 100% Customer Satisfaction. We ship worldwide and offer a variety of shipping methods to meet your needs. Please place your order directly via ABEBooks.com. We accept payment by MasterCard and Visa. For more information, contact us by email at cs@bargainbookstores.com. Full contact info is below:

BargainBookStores.com LLC
3423 Lousma Dr SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49548

Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

Information regarding the right of withdrawal

Statutory right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).

We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.

We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.

You shall send back the goods or hand them over to BargainBookStores, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

Exceptions to the right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal does not apply to:

The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.

Shipping Terms

We will ship to all domestic and most international destinations.

Please note: Shipping times are estimated and are not guaranteed by BargainBookStores.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Shipping rates within U.S.A.
Order quantity	4 to 10 business days	4 to 9 business days
First item	� 0.00	� 29.49

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.