In 1979, Vincent Bianco has just graduated high school. His only desire - collect a little beer money and enjoy his final summer before college. So he lands a job as a labourer on a construction crew. Working alongside two Vietnam vets, one suffering from PTSD, Vincent gets the education of a lifetime. Now 40 years later, with his own son leaving for college, the lessons of that summer - Vincent's last taste of innocence and first taste of real life - dramatically unfold in a novel about breaking away, shaping a life and seeking one's own destiny.