Brown Dwarf is a science ‘friction’ comedy of the arts. The primary setting is the high desert of central Oregon, with offshoots to Central America, New York City and beyond. The secondary setting is a sloshing of time frames and political urgencies. A next incarnation western novel, Brown Dwarf employs a complex, narrative amalgam to tell the story of Enno Duden, a young reluctant messiah, and his efforts to build a farm. Parallel storylines touch the Duden adventure: environmental espionage, comedy, geothermal intrigue, romance, appropriate weaponry, and art-world chicanery are a few of the elements. Side by side and sometimes overlapping the Duden story, there is a modern sculptor / old cowboy and his intrigue with an art dealer / gun runner, a fully invested ghost, a retired cow cop turned concierge vigilante, a jam-band drummer on the lam, a mercenary scientist, a gum-chewing dog and a couple of brown dwarves. Concurrent regional sovereignty efforts punctuate the economics, politics and environmental concerns. Scientific intrigues around failed stars and exotic energy sources inflate possibilities. Family arguments between the author and narrator serve to clarify and confuse at the same time, while at the core, mysterious cat and mouse escapades revolve around the oft-attempted eradication of Duden.