[1] Published by Charles Scribner's Sons on 19 May 2015, the novel follows two friends, Mickey Montauk, a National Guard officer who is deployed to the Iraq War, and Halifax Corderoy, a graduate student at Boston University.

[1][2] The deployment of Montauk separates the two and they stay in touch via editing a Wikipedia entry.

[2] The plot draws from the two authors' personal experiences, Robinson called the main characters "more despicable versions of us".

[1] Michiko Kakutani writing for The New York Times claimed that while the article can seem "ad hoc and overly stage-managed" with characters crossing paths with "startling ease", it does so in a "intimate" and "breezy" way, concluding with calling the novel "captivating".

[2] Ben East of The Observer wrote that while the book accurately portrays both "bohemian academia" and "unpopular military operations", "the narrative itself never quite coheres into a satisfying whole".