A past that yawns back to antiquity. A future he can barely imagine.

As the only child of Greek immigrants, Lambros Xenakis is their emissary, their interpreter, and the vessel of their dreams. Age-old traditions bind him, obligations burden him, while daily life presents its own challenges and enticements. A prank attracts the police and leads to unpredictable consequences. A friend’s unruly behaviour requires the intervention of an exorcist. Guys he once played with in back alleys now cruise the streets in Camaros. A chance encounter with a local celebrity offers a dubious path to success, but at the cost of destroying a friendship.

Such experiences hint at worlds both bewildering and tantalizing. But can he reach these worlds without betraying his own? Does he have the courage to break from custom and expectation? Or is he destined to share the fate of those around him?

Set in Montreal’s Mile End in the 70s and 80s, this episodic novel is a stirring and bitingly funny coming-of-age narrative, chronicling an urban landscape and childhood now largely vanished.