Clever, anecdotal, suspenseful, and funny."      Anna Shapiro, The New Yorker To read a sample, click "Preview" below the cover image. Peter Leroy explores one of his earliest memories (his mother's tumble from her lawn chair), probes the root causes of his childhood pelecypodophobia (fear of bivalve mollusks, particularly clams), navigates the upper reaches of the Bolotomy River, builds a radio receiver and explores the farthest reaches of the galaxy, ponders the differences between dour foxes and happy clams, falls in love with the girl with the white fur muff, learns the pleasures of skating on ice and taking the long way home, becomes a fan of the Larry Peters Adventure series, and rises to the rank of Aluminum Commodore in the Young Tars. "It generates its own reality, and it's profoundly funny." David Chute, The Los Angeles Times "Tiny and enormous, full of mystery and wonder."      Robert Plunket, The New York Times Book Review "Strikingly new."      Walter Kendrick, The Village Voice