It is a bildungsroman about three wild brothers of white and Puerto Rican parentage who live a rough and tumble childhood in rural upstate New York during the 1980s.

[2] The young, unnamed narrator, a boy, grows up in a tight-knit family with two older brothers, Manny and Joel.

His parents, who were teenagers when the boys were conceived, have an abusive and unhappy marriage but still feel love for each other.

In a series of vignettes, the narrator describes how his parents struggle to keep the family afloat and how his father, and eventually his brothers, are abusive towards his mother who is deeply unhappy and longs for a better life.

[7][8] In November/December 2011 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a (4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a summary stating, "Although some critics felt that the first person plural narration and an abrupt shift in tone in the last section of the book doesn't work as well as he perhaps intended, they still praised this wonderful, assured debut".