While the politically charged dispute over the 2000 election rages around him, he must sculpt an abandoned chunk of alabaster into a unique headstone to free himself from the financial morass he is in. Concurrently, he becomes increasingly entangled with the cynical, witty young heroin addict he has come to depend on for human feelings in a sea of urban alienation and decay. Capturing in words the energy, dynamism, and exhaustion of creating visual art is a definite achievement. Setting the act of creation amidst Lower East Side filth, degradation, and hope, and making that environment a palpable, organic character in a novel confirms Nersesian's literary artistry. His edgy exploration of the love of art and of life, and of the creative act and the sweat and toil inherent to it, is hard to put down.