The classic novel that inspired the beloved Tim Burton film and the Broadway musical. In his prime, Edward Bloom was an extraordinary man. He could outrun anybody. He never missed a day of school. He saved lives and tamed giants. Animals loved him, people loved him, women loved him. He knew more jokes than any man alive. At least that's what he told his son, William. But now Edward Bloom is dying, and William wants desperately to know the truth about his elusive father-this indefatigable teller of tall tales-before it's too late. So, using the few facts he knows, William re-creates Edward's life in a series of legends and myths, through which he begins to understand his father's great feats, and his great failings. The result is hilarious and wrenching, tender and outrageous. Daniel Wallace is the author of six novels, including Big Fish, which was adapted and released as a movie and a Broadway musical. His novels have been translated into over three-dozen languages. His essays and interviews have been published in The Bitter Southerner, Garden & Gun, Poets & Writers and Our State magazine, where he was, for a short time, the barbecue critic. His short stories have appeared in over fifty magazines and periodicals. He was awarded the Harper Lee Award, given to a nationally recognized Alabama writer who has made a significant lifelong contribution to Alabama letters. He was inducted into the Alabama Literary Hall of Fame in 2022. He is the J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "A charming whopper of a tale." -The San Diego Union-Tribune In his prime, Edward Bloom was an extraordinary man. He could outrun anybody. He never missed a day of school. He saved lives and tamed giants. Animals loved him, people loved him, women loved him. He knew more jokes than any man alive. At least that's what he told his son, William. But now Edward Bloom is dying, and William wants desperately to know the truth about his elusive father-this indefatigable teller of tall tales-before it's too late. So, using the few facts he knows, William re-creates Edward's life in a series of legends and myths, through which he begins to understand his father's great feats, and his great failings. The result is hilarious and wrenching, tender and outrageous. "Refreshing, original . . . Wallace mixes the mundane and the mythical. His chapters have the transformative quality of fable and fairy tale." -Publishers Weekly, starred review "A comic novel about death, about the mysteries of parents and the redemptive power of storytelling." -USA Today "Highly original . . . An imaginative, and moving, record of a son's love for a charming, unknowable father." -Kirkus Reviews Part I The Day He Was Born In Which He Speaks to Animals The Year it Snowed in Alabama His Great Promise My Father's Death: Take 1 The Girl in the River His Quiet Charm How He Tamed the Giant In Which He Goes Fishing The Day He Left Ashland Entering a New World Part II The Old Lady and the Eye My Father's Death: Take 2 His First Great Love His Legendary Legs In Which He Makes a Move The Fight On Meeting the In-Laws His Three Labors He Goes to War My Father's Death: Take 3 The Day I Was Born How He Saw Me How He Saved My Life His Immortality His Greatest Power In Which He Has a Dream Part III In Which He Buys a Town, and More How it Ends My Father's Death: Take 4 Big Fish "A charming whopper of a tale." -The San Diego Union-Tribune "Both comic and poignant." -The New York Times "Refreshing, original . . . Wallace mixes the mundane and the mythical. His chapters have the transformative quality of fable and fairy tale." -Publishers Weekly, starred review "A comic novel about death, about the mysteries of pa