Ten-year-old Theo lives with his grandfather and a minder in a vast, decrepit Long Island mansion said to have inspired The Great Gatsby . His English father, a world famous rock musician, spends most of the year away on tour. His mother, beautiful and fragile, is in and out of his life amid bouts of rehab.
Alone for much of the time, Theo takes refuge in his attic bedroom, among his collection of live butterfly pupas and the tales of piratical adventure that fire his imagination.
Then, a fax arrives: 'Reef the mainsail.' It seems Theo's father is coming home to record a new album, and he's planning to stay the whole summer. Along with the rest of the band, managers, PR people, agents, and countless hangers-on good, bad and downright ugly...
Over two life-changing days, Theo captures the mind and voice of a ten-year-old boy at the far edge of innocence. At once a tender coming-of-age story and an exploration of the radioactive effects of the rich and famous on those who love them, it peels away the image to look into the dark heart of fame and fortune.