New York Times Bestseller
"C.K. has written something close to a great American novel." —Book and Film Globe
A suspenseful and often harrowing, yet hopeful odyssey through rural America follows a young drifter in an indifferent world, in this debut novel by comedian Louis C.K.
When Ingram is forced by overwhelming poverty and spiritual exhaustion to walk away from his home, he leaves behind a neglectful childhood on a dirt farm on a dead-end road. With no family, no resources, and no practical understanding of the world, Ingram’s only compass is the daily fight to survive and the narrow dream of one day owning a truck.
A picaresque novel set against the backdrop of working-class Texas, Ingram invites readers to see the world through the eyes of a child who drifts through a tough American landscape of corn farms and oil fields, guided by diner waitresses, migrant workers, and criminals, trying to make sense of a world that doesn’t care about him anymore than a jungle or desert does for the creatures that toil to survive within them.
The reality Ingram discovers is wild and cruel, but filled with unexpected wonders. Though this young boy faces tornadoes, explosions, thieves, and rampant violence, his curiosity, humor, and resilience never dull.
As he begins to push against the tide of social and natural bad luck that seems to almost chase him, Ingram begins to forge himself into an individual with agency and the ability and right to choose his own moves, even if he’s not always prepared for the consequences.
Through Ingram’s journey, he begins to come to terms with a forgotten tragedy from his past that shapes the way he understands himself, his family, and his own place in the world.
About the Author
Louis C.K. is a veteran standup comedian and a six-time Emmy Award winning writer, director, actor, editor, and executive producer. He is the creator of numerous acclaimed series, including HBO’s Lucky Louie and the Peabody Award winning shows Louie and Horace and Pete. Louie aired for five seasons on FX, won three Emmy awards with 19 additional nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series for three years in a row, and won multiple guild awards.
C.K. has released 10 standup comedy specials, for which he has won 3 Emmy awards and 3 Grammys. His standup comedy career has spanned 40 years, culminating in large scale tours worldwide, including ten sold out shows at Madison Square Garden. His most recent special Back To The Garden was a first-time ever livestream of his last show at Madison Square Garden and was streamed by more than 90 thousand people worldwide. In 2016, C.K. innovated television by self-distributing his standup special Live At The Beacon directly to his fans via his website LouisCK.com. He later launched Horace and Pete exclusively on LouisCK.com., which stands alone today as a bonafide television platform, hosting all of his standup work and tv series. Two of C.K.’s Emmy Awards are attributed to LouisCK.com as the hosting network.
C.K.’s first success as a filmmaker was the short film Ice Cream, which screened at Sundance and as a part of the New Directors, New Films series at MOMA in 1994. In 1998, his first feature film, Tomorrow Night, premiered at Sundance Film Festival in He went on to write and direct the cult classic Pootie Tang, starring Chris Rock in 2001. Most recently, C.K. wrote, directed, and appeared in Fourth of July, which was released in 2022.
C.K. currently lives in New York.
