Wilhelm wants to be an actor, and have failed to become a success.
A typical story for most actors, who didn't get that one big break.
The story is more on his relationship with his past and his father right now.
The more we read up on actors, the more we found out how hard it is to make it big. Luck has a lot to do with it, and talent of course.
The reflection of the expectation of a successful father to a son that doesn't meet up to expectation.
What we see is a not so successful man being weighted down by responsibility that he wanted to announce to the world he is taking on. Wouldn't making a normal living like any other manual labors crossed his mind? Why is he allow to get away with so much?
This book is going nowhere. The almost divorced son who is a father of two sons are kept in an internal cycle of self loathing and wanted to be helped by his rich father. Well, help is okay, but then he should have found someway to help himself.
Self pity to the very end. Not likable.