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In sparse, evocative prose, T Cooper tells the story of four splintered lives: Isak is a "gender freak" to the world at large. Taylor is so simultaneously perfect, yet useless, that she is paralyzed. Her mother Arlene is lonely and pill-popping, while Arlene's brother Charlie faces the unexpected--even unwanted--prospect of being healthy with HIV. Fractured lives in various forms of exile eventually join to re-forge a definition of family from the ashes. T Cooperreceived an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University. For some time, T doubled as T-Rok, a member of the heart-throbby Backdoor Boys performance troupe. T's work--both fiction and non-fiction--has appeared in a variety of magazines, journals and anthologies. This is a first novel.