What happens when one of America’s most beloved biographers writes his own biography?

For five-time New York Times bestselling author Eric Metaxas, the answer is Fish Out of Water: A Search for the Meaning of Life–a soaring, lyrical, and often mischievous account of his early years, in which the astute Queens-born son of Greek and German immigrants struggles to make sense of a world in which he never quite seems to fit.

While millions know Metaxas as a celebrated author, the witty host of Socrates in the City, and a nationally syndicated radio personality, here he reveals a personal story few have known. The scion of two families with very different traditions, he enjoyed their affection and support through his riotous but successful years at Yale, yet later felt abandoned as he drifted toward an abyss of meaninglessness from which he barely escaped.

Along the way, Metaxas introduces us to an unforgettable troupe of Runyonesque characters who join this quintessentially first-generation American boy on his odyssey, underscoring how simultaneously funny, serious, happy, sad, and meaningful life can be.