In the tradition of the European novel of ideas, "Ocean Beach" is a searing psychological portrait of infatuation and longing. At twenty-five years old, Peter Niletti's life is confined to a bedroom in his parents' suburban Long Island home. From his isolation, he ruminates on the life and death of his younger sister, Severine. The siblings are raised in a cloistered intellectual environment where, estranged from other children, they develop an unusually close bond. Peter and Severine exist for one another, until college shatters their unity when Severine meets the handsome and worldly...