Galen is a dysfunctional 22-year-old guy who lives, as he would put it, with his horrible mother, and in close proximity to his horrible aunt, and his horrible teenage cousin who sexually abuses him. He lusts after her. She’s violent. It’s set in the middle of California. Very rural. A bit Faulknerian. Intense, furious people on a highway to hell. Like the other people in this book, on one level Galen seems to be simple. But he’s not. He’s a seeker. What he is looking for is a transcendent moment. They all go to stay in a cabin. David Vann is an excellent writer, and if you’ve read him before you’ll know to expect craziness.
