A HORSE-DRAWN SICKLE BAR CUTTER

Fuller recounts the pivotal moments that have marked a life of fulfillment and true happiness in this memoir.

This unflinchingly honest account begins with a thorough detailing of the Fuller family’s beginnings, which the author is able to trace back to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. Edward Fuller—patriarch of the Fuller clan and descendant of the Mayflower expedition—eventually settled in Massachusetts, where his milk-peddling business thrived. The author reflects on his youth on the farm, peppering historical data with intimate personal stories of picking berries, getting into trouble with the next-door neighbors, and cherishing the sounds of a sickle bar cutter hay harvesting tool. Fuller includes a smattering of poems and photos from this time, drawing the reader into farm life with ease and a unique perspective. The author’s relationship with his father is particularly endearing as readers follow Fuller’s growing enthusiasm for motorcycles and travel—passions of his father that would significantly shape the course of the author’s life even after the elder Fuller’s tragic death (“motorcycle trips with my father are among my most cherished memories, and they have carved the deepest, most profound crevices in my brain”). Armed with an unparalleled sense of grit, perseverance, and passion for new experiences, the author embraced new and exciting experiences during and after college, including impromptu road trips during the Summer of Love in California, scuba diving, camping in secluded snowy mountains, and falling in love with the culinary arts. Such reminiscences drive the rest of the evenly paced memoir; Fuller’s relationships, though seemingly fascinating and complex, are given almost no time at all. As the author deprioritizes his sometimes-frustrating and tragic relationships in the narrative, the book’s brief and occasionally blasé treatment of the women in his life leave the reader wanting. Still, Fuller has indeed led a fascinating life, and his passion is palpable and contagious. The willingness to make mistakes, the inevitability of failure, and unending perseverance are relatable and inspiring themes woven throughout the text as the author proudly asserts that, with passion and tenacity, everyone can find their “felicity.”

An honest account of a life well-lived.