Summary

Chapter 11. The poem at the beginning of this chapter explains the emptiness Sydney feels at the “loss” of his son and how the entire family structure suffers as a result. He explains, in the poem, that although he and his wife look at each other, there is nothing left for either of them to see.

Shawn’s narration explains his dad and sister flew to Los Angeles earlier that week to tape the Alice Ponds Show, which is the talk show discussed in the previous chapter. Today, Shawn, his mom, and his siblings are waiting for the show to air. The narrative then switches over to the show where Alice Ponds, the hostess, introduces Shawn’s father onto the show. She explains he will be discussing his newest work, a book about Earl Detraux. As Shawn’s father and his sister enter the stage, Shawn...