Chris is a struggling writer whose marriage is strained and who doesn't have a great relationship with his eleven year old son, David. He finds and gives David a book, one that he had read as a child, for his birthday, but it's not the book David had wanted. Chris begins reading the book to his son each night before bed, and delights in the fact that David becomes very interested in it, but then the seizures begin. A bit drawn out, but overall a good book.

Coralie Sardie is a sheltered young girl growing up in a freak show which her father owns and runs. Eventually her path crosses with Eddie Cohen's, a Russian immigrant and a photographer.