The novel begins when Wakefield, an "inspirational speaker" and architecture enthusiast, is visited by the Devil, who tells him his time is up. Not yet ready, Wakefield strikes a bargain with Satan and sets off on a cross-country journey to understand his life and times and find his "authentic" self. It's Wakefield's continuing exploration of architecture---and our national obsession with restoration of our cities, of our buildings, of our bodies, of life itself---that drives him to question what is inside and what is outside reality. In the end, in an attempt to "restore" his own world, Wakefield decides he must remake it in a shocking act.

Original material © 2004 Andrei Codrescu. Published by arrangement with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Andrei Codrescu's commentaries are heard on National Public Radio; his travel films are shown on Public television; his Web journal, Exquisite Corpse, is read by the literati; and his books include poetry, essays, travelogues, as well as the bestselling novels THE BLOOD COUNTESS and MESSIAH. He teaches English at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.