A comedy, a tragedy. Threadgill Pickett, veteran of the Civil War, breaks out from an Alabama old folks home and starts a quest northward to kill the last living Union Soldier. This is to avenge his brother, who was needlessly killed by Union soldiers, outside of any conflict. On his journey Threadgill encounters two brothers building a time machine, a trio of Klu Kluxers, a man collecting raccoons that turn out to be rabid, a wannabe country singer, and a truck-driving woman to make men stand in awe. He also encounters a Utopian society of blacks and whites who share family, food, love, and grief.

Part romance, part adventure yarn, part horror story, a novel about a boy and his friend growing up in a mythical Southern town draws on the most fantastic elements in the traditions of the Southern novel