Hal Jansen, the artistic, sensitive youngest son of a successful department store executive, has just dropped out of college to begin a burgeoning folk music career when he stumbles into a chance performance by blues prodigy Rudy Amos. Amidst the political turmoil of the 1960s, the two immediately strike up a profound camaraderie and begin to write songs as letters to each other, as a way of transmuting all of their tribulations into music. Over decades --- through addiction, mental health crises, societal expectations, profound personal loss and failed marriages --- the pair's brotherhood sees them through as they put everything on the line for their dreams.

After the death of his father, a young journalist named Faruq Zaidi takes the opportunity to embed himself in a mysterious cult based in the California redwoods and known as “the nameless,” whose strikingly attractive members adhere to the 18 Utterances, including teachings such as “all suffering is distortion” and “see only beauty.” Shepherding them is Odo, an enigmatic Vietnam War veteran who received “the sight” --- the movement’s foundational principles --- during his time as an infantryman. Through flashbacks that recount the cult’s wartime origins, we see four soldiers contend with the existential struggles of combat and with their responsibilities to each other. By the end of the novel, we learn which one becomes Odo.