Two boys--brothers--coming of age in south Louisiana in the 1950s and '60s is told in a series of twenty-two short, powerful episodes in this linked collection that reads like a novel. Each story takes place on or near a road or highway and marks a pivotal incident in each brother's journey into manhood. Though each story can stand alone and be read independently of the others, readers will be delighted and surprised by the many interconnections and resonances they will find among the characters and situations when read as a whole. Through choices--wise or regretful, aberrant or every day--the reader must fit together, like puzzle pieces, both brothers' journeys into what they seek, what they find, and what they settle for.