The book's protagonist and first-person narrator, Joe, is a 21-year-old man attending college at the University of Minnesota. It’s September 2010. Joe is driving to Hillview Manor, a nursing home, to complete an assignment for an English class. He must interview an older person and write their biography.

Joe’s mother, Kathy Nelson, is an alcoholic who Joe suspects has bipolar disorder, although she’s never been diagnosed. She lives a two-hour drive away in Joe’s hometown of Austin, Minnesota with Joe’s autistic brother, 18-year-old Jeremy. The boys have different last names because Kathy named them after their fathers, hoping this would inspire the men to stay with her. Kathy relies on the Social Security money she gets from Jeremy to support her addiction. Joe supports himself, working as a bouncer at Molly’s Pub. Joe’s main hobby when he isn’t working or studying is cheering on the Minnesota Twins baseball team.

Mary Lorngren, the director of Hillview Manor, and the receptionist, Janet, suggest Joe talk to 64-year-old Carl Iverson. Carl is a convicted murderer, a “monster” according to Mary, who raped and killed a 14-year-old girl in 1980.