Diagnosed with Asperger's, the man who bares his soul here likes truth, transparency, Scrabble, logic, and air disasters.

The narrator of this relentless yet irresistible novel has Asperger's, a form of autism that makes him unable to conform to the arbitrariness of social conventions. Only the real truth finds favor with our pure-hearted, 45-year-old protagonist whose utter frankness has left him lonely and misunderstood. The death of his grandmother—a disgraced, vile, venal forebear whom a perfunctory funeral officiant outrageously showers with praise—is an occasion for him to furiously efface his family's embellishments. Cheating, adultery, family secrets, slander, pettiness—no one is safe!