The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole

Welcome to Cedar Hole — a town where mediocrity reigns supreme thanks to a dreary climate, a defunct railroad, and citizens who are held captive by apathy and paranoia. Among them: an elementary school teacher who would rather drink gin and read True Detective magazine rather than teach; a librarian keenly aware of everyone’s shortcomings except her own; a self-important police officer with nothing to do; an ostracized widow bent on revenge. And then there’s Francis Pinkham, the youngest and only boy of ten children, whose family epitomizes everything that’s wrong with the community.
From the moment of his unwelcome arrival, Francis knows his path in life will be a rocky one. Largely ignored by his exhausted parents and the favorite whipping boy of his nine sisters, Francis expects nothing from the world and even less from himself. That is, until he meets Robert Cutler, a cheerful, enigmatic boy who — against all odds — seems destined to...