In Chapter 3 of Out of the Fire. We're transported to Long Beach, New York in the early 1950s, five blocks from the Atlantic. To Ken the ocean it's love at first sight We're enveloped by the sensory details of Ken's memory - the winter sun, shuttered rides, pounding surf, shells sharp enough to cut a child’s feet.  These vivid memories however are juxtaposed with the emotional trauma of his early childhood and this mix becomes the emotional pattern of the story. In this idyllic setting, Ken's home is both haven and hazard.  The setting isn’t background; it’s a mirror for what it feels like to grow up unsure what’s safe.   Food becomes the steady comfort, and it’s not sentimental. A mother’s cooking is described as the one consistent salve in Ken's life and in his relationship with his mother: beef stew that makes a kid’s mouth water, fluke and flounder cleaned and fried, peach pies from a backyard heavy with fruit. The garden is unusually large, anchore...