A proud townie in trouble, Johnny Desmond is of Boston. It's 1988 and Johnny has Lyme Disease. He's just dropped out of Boston University only three months before graduation - and the antibiotics might not be working.
And his family's falling apart. His so well-educated parents cannot let go of their 1960's radicalized hatred of the establishment -- marriage being one of the many conventions scorned.
Johnny's only way out of his troubles is to link up with his frail grandmother. A war hero, her frailty is very definitely recent. And she is the establishment.
His grandmother shows him a series of highly personal, disturbing family letters, and Johnny delves in. He has to learn to process the differences between good and bad establishments.
