"Quirky humor, bright language, and sharp emotional insight." — Joe Okonkwo, author of Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction winner Jazz Moon
"Like no other book I have read. It will entertain you as it crushes you." — Martha Amore, Editor of Lambda Literary Nominated Building Fires in the Snow
"Caprioli’s prose is frank and insightful, finding the lyricism in everyday objects, turns of phrase, and locales.... His portrait of Abby is the soul of the book, and she’s revealed as a larger-than-life character who exhibits real problems, and who causes problems for the author, as well. However, she never loses the reader’s sympathy, thanks to his nuanced, nonjudgmental portrayal. The result is a moving rumination on the varying roles that a mother can play in a son’s life, for better and for worse. An affecting and surprising remembrance about the responsibilities of parents and children." - Kirkus Reviews
Matt Caprioli never belonged in Alaska: too gay, too bookish, a faltering vegetarian. As a spiritual and sensitive young boy, he’s raised by the exuberant and radiant but deeply impractical Abby Henry, who doesn’t view his baptism in a horse trough or machete marks on their new apartment door as peculiar. Abby works as a baker in Anchorage, so the two leave Lazy Mountain each morning at 3:30am to drive through single-digit weather in a rickety, church-donated Mustang with no passenger window, no snow tires, and one headlight. Lacking money and direction, Caprioli nonetheless adores his mother and the world they share.
As a young man, Caprioli leaves Alaska to chase his dream of writing in Manhattan, along the way working as a journalist and sex worker. His bond with his mother is tested as Caprioli tries to forget where he comes from. But when Abby falls ill at 53, Caprioli returns to Anchorage to care for her, and is forced to reckon with the true meaning of home.
In telling his story, Caprioli captures the love and joy of our deepest bonds, of the myths and hopes surrounding America’s largest state, and the momentous power of a quiet drive with those we love.
