40-year-old Aaron Englund long ago escaped the confinements of his Midwestern hometown, but he still feels like an outcast. After 20 years under the Pygmalion-like care of his older partner, Walter, Aaron at last decides it is time to take control of his own fate. But soon Aaron sees that real freedom will not come until he has made peace with his memories of Mortonville, Minnesota: a cramped town whose four hundred souls form a constellation of Aaron's childhood heartbreaks and hopes. Touching and funny.