FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF HIS PARENTS, eighteen-year-old Shane Healy drops out of high school and lives alone in his childhood home. Shunning adult responsibility, Shane aimlessly drifts around Boston, apathetic toward everything except for his collection of anti-social hobbies Beanie Baby heists, Chinese buffet brawls, prank calls, and scatological joke shop relics of his youth. In an attempt to locate an out-of-print prank call CD, Shane accidentally calls a mysterious senior citizen, George Thurman. As his obsession with George grows, bizarre meddling from an unknown source hurls Shane into a sprawling, phantasmagorical journey that he never intended to take.

The Truth about the Moon and the Stars is set in the late-90s, an era where payphones are still ubiquitous and opportunities for anonymous mischief lurk around every corner. Through a series of haphazard encounters, Shane learns that there are things in this world far stranger than he’d ever imagined. The only thing he knows for sure is that it all seems to lead back to George.

In The Truth About the Moon and the Stars, Brian Jacobson weaves a bizarre, surreal, and ultimately hypnotic tale. This is a funny, dark, strange, surprising novel-part prank, part study of the human condition, and wholly original. It’s Clockwork Orange meets The Jerky Boys, with a dash of Naked Lunch.

-Richard Thomas, author of the Thriller-nominated novel, Breaker

In The Truth About the Moon and the Stars Brian Jacobson paints a portrait of an America I know and dearly miss. The landscapes own the right dose of nostalgia I thirst for on a humid summer night but the characters are what truly shine here. A fantastic debut set in a city I love. I can already envision the film adaptation. This is a great entry into the realm of the dark side of restless youth. A coming of age tale with all the right twists and turns.

-Max G. Morton, author of Indestructible Wolves of the Apocalypse Junkyard