[close] If two aging hippies can stubbornly hang on to the '60s for 30 years, then hanging on to life after dying isn't much of a stretch. Sponsored by rival deities, Tex (Bear) and Molly (Raven) become players--or prompters--in an improvisational drama of survival whose improbable cast is vast and largely unwitting. Grant's multimythic storytelling lends glamour to scruffy coastal Dublin, Maine; he's a relentless observer, but an affectionate reporter, of the foibles and faults of the authentically miscellaneous residents and visitors. His major themes and leitmotifs are here, but the novel overall is less abstract and more playful than some of Grant's previous work. [close]