In this Dostoyevskian novel, Jake Miller, a minor character drawn from James Ostby's first literary work-Men With Broken Faces-is a homesteader in northeastern Montana who suffers life to a higher degree than do most people. Uneducated, though intelligent and noble of spirit, he plods on over the open prairie and the vast wheatfields of his life, trying to find solace in farming, everyday life, and through his somewhat ironic sense of humor. Jake is haunted by both his Wheel of Life and the Fatidic Light. His Wheel of Life, more like a grindstone, is a relentless psychological encumbrance...