First published 1989
A young man carries something monstrous inside him as he moves through Depression-era farmland. After a sexual encounter brings shame and forces him to abandon his adoptive family, he travels to stay with distant relatives. The beast that shares his body grows stronger and more demanding. He must find a way to let the creature learn and develop without losing himself in the process. His new home offers fresh relationships and possibilities, but the internal struggle intensifies. He negotiates an unstable truce with the entity inside him. The beast can grow, but not by consuming his identity or destroying his connections to others. This fragile balance becomes the center of his existence as he tries to build a life while managing the dangerous force within.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, horror, dark-fantasy
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, internal-conflict, monster-within
Setting: Depression-Era Farmland
Period: 20th Century
240 pages · Hardcover · Kinnell
Content warnings: body-horror, mental-illness