[All Is but a Beginning] is a masterpiece of autobiography.

The only regrettable aspect of the book is that it is simply the first installment covering Neihardt's first twenty years. We must be grateful for small favors, however, and hopeful that God will be generous enough to allow him enough time to complete what he has started.

It is not that Neihardt's first twenty years were all that unique. They were not. He makes them unique, however, using words with the skill and precision of a surgeon. His finely etched portraits of people, places, and events flow from cover to cover with a mastery that defies the reader to describe anything he set down better than he has done it. It simply can't be done. His portraits of his father, his fourth-grade teacher, and his boy friend, John Chaffee, are unforgettable….

The most amazing aspect of the book...