A Novel. Fifteen-year-old Pearl is squatting in an abandoned boathouse with her father, a disgraced college professor, and two other grown men, deep in the swamps of the American South. All four live on the fringe, scavenging what they can - catfish, lumber, scraps for their ailing dog. Despite the isolation, Pearl feels at home with her makeshift family the three men care for Pearl and teach her what they know of the world. Mason Boyd, aka Main Boy, is from a nearby affluent neighbourhood where he and his raucous friends ride around in tricked-out golf carts, shoot their fathers shotguns, and aspire to make Internet pranking videos. While