"Manufactured in the United States of America"--Title page verso.
Contents:
All the idealism in the world couldn't shake this feeling -- Mysterious kids with shovels -- Take me to the end of the world -- The book of Enoch -- Love the bird -- Benton sage -- Neighbors -- The tower above the earth -- In defense of irrationality -- Cabot searcy -- Vilonia Kline -- The watchers -- The simplest thing in the world -- Alma Ember and her small-town ways -- Aunt Julia and the love parade -- The place where things go away -- This may be the end of the world -- You couldn't find a nicer guy if you tried -- A lavish journey -- The boy who caused silence -- The meaning of this is not to save you.
Summary:
"Seventeen-year-old Cullen's summer in Lily, Arkansas, is marked by his cousin's death by overdose, an alleged spotting of a woodpecker thought to be extinct, failed romances, and his younger brother's sudden disappearance."--Title page verso. "In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching summer before Cullen Witter's senior year of high school, he is forced to examine everything he thinks he understands about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes absurdly obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and most troubling of all, his sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother, Gabriel, suddenly and inexplicably disappears. Meanwhile, the crisis of faith spawned by a young missionary's disillusion in Africa prompts a frantic search for meaning that has far-reaching consequences. As distant as the two stories initially seem, they are woven together through masterful plotting and merge in a surprising and harrowing climax. This extraordinary tale from a rare literary voice finds wonder in the ordinary and illuminates the hope of second chances."--Publisher's description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.