Book excerpt: My name now is Max Fine. My parents named me Maxwell so for many years I was known as Maxwell Feinstein. Whilst sitting on my balcony, observing the sun slip away slowly below the horizon, I ruminate about my past life and how much longer I have in this world. I was born in South Africa to German Jewish parents after the family escaped from Germany in 1936. I am writing this book as my ultimate legacy. I am dying from a severe case of congenital heart disease for which there is no cure. Only a heart transplant can save me. At my age? I have my thoughts and memories. Both are fully functional but may be somewhat fanciful. The story is about my family and me. I retell some events that happened (or at least that I believe happened) over several generations. Naturally, I was not present at every event so, to that extent, these are either hearsay or my interpretational memories. I make no apology for spending time on my gap year before attending university since it was one of my most enjoyable times, if not the best. I was a naïve 17-year-old, seeing the world for the first time. In those few months, I became a man.