In his prime, Edward Bloom was an extraordinary man. There wasn't anything he couldn't do - and do well. He could outrun anybody. He never missed a day of school, even in the worst blizzard. He saved lives. Animals loved him, people loved him, women loved him. He was an inspired salesman - a visionary, in fact. And he knew more jokes than any man alive.

Or at least that's what he's told his son, William. William doesn't really know his father because, actually, Edward wasn't home all that much. What William knows about his father he's had to piece together from the little bits of stories he's gathered over the years.

Now, watching his father die, William grows increasingly desperate to know him before it's too late. And in a wonderful sleight of hand, William re-creates his elusive father's life in a series of legends and myths inspired by the few facts he knows. Through these tales, William begins to understand Edward Bloom's great feats - and his great failings. He manages, somehow, to reckon with the father he's about to lose. And he finds a way to say good-bye.