First published 1995
Chester Pomeroy declares he's working without a net now. The former rock star has crashed hard from fame into a haze of drugs and reckless love. He drifts through Key West like a ghost, harassing his family and pulling a .38 on someone who might become his in-law. His ex-girlfriend has moved on, but Chester can't let go. In his lovesick desperation, he attempts to crucify himself on her door. Every move he makes seems designed to push him further from the human connection he craves. Chester fights to rejoin the world of normal people, but his methods threaten to destroy him first. McGuane follows his protagonist through a maze of alligators, hot pavement, ocean air, messy encounters, and moments where death feels close enough to touch. Chester embodies the pure form of a particular kind of American man: brilliant, self-destructive, and utterly lost. His struggle becomes both painful and absurd as he discovers whether redemption is possible or if some people are simply too broken to save.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, addiction, contemporary
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption-arc, self-destructive-protagonist
Setting: Key West, Panama
Period: Contemporary
175 pages · Paperback · Vintage
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use