In A How Pretty Town, our protagonist is an active octogenarian who likes to walk the streets of his hometown of Edmonds, Washington. He’s a privileged white man, a competitor still trying to prove himself, a rationalist opposed to what he regards as magical thinking, and a man trying to make sense of and come to terms with his life. He has no urge to commemorate his 80th birthday by skydiving or riding a camel. In the days that remain to him, he wants to post on his interactive blog and on Twitter-platforms on which he is followed, he imagines, by a 100 or so vigilants- an inventory of his mind and his town. And to win a gold medal in softball at the Huntsman Senior Games in St. George, Utah…

Having lived all his life in Edmonds, the old man has observed how the town has changed over the years and the ongoing struggle between progressive and conservative forces trying to define its soul. The town is virtually real, the characters are fictitious, and the story is a compelling metafiction that comments on itself at times, employs parody and pastiche, plays with language, and raises questions about the reliability of the narration.