Award-winning author Fred Chappell has so enraptured us with his rich storytelling, he deserves to be counted among our national treasures. Steeped in Appalachian culture and tradition, this saga of a North Carolina family is a bewitching combination of wit, humor and pathos. Jess Kirkman's mother is dying of congestive heart failure, and he has come home to be at her bedside. Charged with getting family affairs in order, he faces the daunting task of sorting out the secret workshop that his father left behind when he died 10 years ago. As he investigates his findings—a map littered with the names of strange women and a strange invention of stovepipe and ceramic—Jess discovers an intriguing side of his father. A journey through space and time and the story of a quest for perfect revenge, this shining novel in turn reads like Mark Twain, Dante, and Buck Rogers. This audiobook includes an exclusive interview with the author.