Have you ever pondered the lowest point in Western Civilization? In this novel, Peter McCarthy, first person narrator of three previous books, proposes one, and it's alarmingly close to now. McCarthy also explains why being born with a calling may be the worst thing that can happen. In a single, fast moving paragraph, he capsulizes three-thousand years of human history. He turns to the subject that has kept him wondering for decades - the mystery of why we love and are loved. Why does love usually fail to last, no matter how certain we are in the first gust of passion? New readers as well as established fans will provoked to think again about what seems so clear. Everyone will find a story that will stay with them and inform them.