Domminick Birdsey’s entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man, and their long suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious. Dominick’s talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the break-up of his marriage. And his talent for survival will be put to the test when Thomas, his paranoid schizophrenic twin, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick’s lives. It’s a deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel that brings to light humanity’s deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, and our struggle to survive at all costs.