Arvid Township is a fictional northern Minnesota farming community. The characters struggle to cope with their own ineptitude in an array of interrelated situations during the Dog Days of Summer, 1949. Their plights are confounded by random invocations of Murphy's Law, along with a variety of demons - ranging from rebellious milk cows to cantankerous John Deere tractors.

The focal point is an impromptu, alcohol and testosterone-fueled, midnight auto race among four young men through the foreboding depths of the Lundeby Swamp. Its consequences have a profound impact on the lives of the surviving participants - particularly the angst-ridden Marvin Uffdahl.

Much of the story is told from the viewpoint of two speakers:

- Thompson, the middle-aged curmudgeon who operates a repair shop and grain threshing machine out of the dying hamlet of Norse Corner.

- Buster Mortimer Nash, the brash, condescending, but clueless claim adjuster trainee from Fargo.

The story is punctuated by two obituaries from the weekly Quisling Journal. They serve to place the family relationships into perspective, and give insight into the long-standing Uffdahl family scandal which is an undercurrent theme.