Into this shattering account of terrifying self-evacuation bursts a counterplot of unusual erotic desire, a consolation so risky and aberrant that it points toward a darker and more shocking end. In this long day's journey into night, told with Roth's inimitable urgency, bravura, and gravity, all the ways that we persuade ourselves of our solidity, all our life's performances - talent, love, sex, hope, energy, reputation - are stripped off.