Customer Reviews

Flight Paths of the Emperor.

I enjoyed the author's account of growing up in his Canadian household. Heighton writes very expressively about what it feels like to be a small kid, Dad zipping in and out of the house to foreign lands, parents fighting, hiding under a table when the domestic situation got violent, and later, as a teenager, a frank conversation with his mom over a Labatts.

I also enjoyed the account of weird, oldschool, 1950's, post-War coffeehouses. Best of all was the chapter where he describes applying for, and being hired to work as a waiter in a Japanese restaurant. Heighton frankly admits that he speaks little Japanese and then describes his encounters with the patrons and staff which will make any foreign expatriate or ex restaurant worker smile in recognition.

As good as those chapters were, I couldn't finish any of the other chapters of the book. This book is worth the price if you buy it in paperback or used.