A sharply fresh vision of our time conveyed through the experiences of a boy filled with classic yearnings for family wholeness and national honesty, on a quest to uncover his elders' secrets. Beginning with a mysterious, unlocatable war and concluding with a battle on the New Jersey Turnpike, this is a "mad fairy tale that unexpectedly turns out to be true" by "such an engaging storyteller that we willingly submit, believing the impossible." (The New York Times Book Review) A "combination of inspired tenderness and brilliant technique... it reads as if it were written by a very witty angel." (The Boston Herald)