Set mostly in Oakland, mostly amongst the urban Native American community, this powerful novel tells in alternating chapters the stories of a dozen or so disparate characters, who are destined to overlap in a tragic climax at the Bog Oakland Powwow. It's a darkly energetic novel, exhilarating and exciting as it drives the reader towards an inevitable, excruciating finale. The many characters are all convincingly drawn, and not regularly seen in American fiction. This is Orange's first novel, published when he was in his mid-thirties. He's one to watch, an exciting discovery.