In the Wake of the Boatman

"Puttnam Douglas Steward isn't having an identity crisis he is one. To his father Carl, he s a disappointment, and has been since the day he came home from the hospital. To his mother, he s ""Mama s Boy,"" and will forever be nothing less and nothing more.The Army thinks he s a hero, having single-handedly saved his troops from an ambush when they stumble upon a major, unknown supply line in Vietnam, then exposing a major Soviet espionage ring in the U.S.Only Milton, Putt s college friend and environmental activist, and Putt s sister Mary see that something is deeply confused about Puttnam Steward. Yet neither of them knows that the only time Putt ever truly feels happy is when he wears a woman s clothes and becomes, for a brief, fleeting moment, someone else. And they don't know how much that disgusts him.In the Wake of the Boatman is a brilliant drama, stirringly and sensitively told, about the elusiveness of identity. Another important novel from one of America s most praised and accomplished novelists, it s a masterpiece that won't soon be forgotten."