"There is something very wonderful about this book; it has a luminous
thing that is the best thing in writing or any kind of art." (Tennessee
Williams)
Most people in town think 16-year-old Clinton Williams' family is
strange. His father, once an outspoken socialist, now searches for
answers at the bottom of a glass. His mother has a reputation for
scaring children. And his older brother, named Berry-berry, is a
traveling vagabond, known by most for his cleft chin, loose morals, and
streaks of violence.
Clinton himself is seen as meek, timid, and not quite right, as he
spends his days filling notebook after notebook, writing down every
conversation he can overhear, word for word. Wishing he could contact
his wayward brother, Clinton yearns for a day when he, too, can escape
the neighborhood and travel the country.
After following a clue to Berry-berry's whereabouts, Clinton ventures to
Coastal Florida hoping to find him, but instead gets a firsthand view of
his brother's callous destructiveness that will leave permanent marks on
the young man.