With gripping, restrained prose, The Ambidextrist finds beauty amid the gravel, dirt, and shadowed figures along Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River. This provocative novel follows Scott, a lonely drifter who earns money as a medical test subject and finds shelter in abandoned buildings on the riverfront. He first befriends Ray, a mysterious homeless man whose tenderness can’t hide his unsavory tastes; next, he sets four adolescent boys on a series of increasingly dangerous dares. As these relationships develop and tangle, Scott proves he can outlast any bad first impression.

About Peter Rock

Peter Rock was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to The Ambidextrist, he is the author of the novels Carnival Wolves and This Is the Place. The recipient of a 2000 NEA fellowship, he is working on new stories, novels, and film adaptations. He lives in Portland, Oregon, and teaches at Reed College.