The new novel by a living classic of American literature is a story about second chances and the power of human connections. Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit. The younger brother of five careless sisters, simple-minded, with many children, he was the only one who studied at the university, and by the age of over forty he had never married, preferring loneliness and strict order. He runs in the morning, he methodically follows traffic rules, he fixes computers for old ladies and he meets with his easy-going girlfriend a couple of times a week. Life without ardent hopes, but without disappointments, calm and mentally comfortable. And just a strange optical illusion - every time while jogging, Mike mistakes a fire hydrant for a red-haired boy. This aberration even slightly worries Mike - is there something wrong with his eyes, or maybe with his soul? And one day a teenager shows up on his doorstep, claiming to be his son. And Mikey's comfortable, orderly life plunges into chaos.