New York State, turn of the 1960s–1970s. A boy is humiliatingly attacked by a teacher. Mr. McEnery is not happy that Jonathan is thirteen and weighs only thirty kilograms. For the first time, the child is forced to doubt his right to occupy a place in the world, his right to his own body. Jonathan's father, concerned about his son's lack of masculinity, develops a training regimen and increased nutrition. Without wanting it, the boy plays a divisive role in his parents' marriage. As a result, Jonathan is sent to a Swiss boarding school, where he manages to find himself among the students of exiles and outcasts. The father seizes the chance to come to Europe and impose strange views on the image of a real man, threatening to destroy the space that Jonathan Wells has so hard won for himself. Critically acclaimed American poet Jonathan Well has presented a sincere and powerful memoir about adolescence and self-image, fragility masculinity and the eternal search for consolation in the world.