Byron Rutledge, a twenty-year-old university student from Queens, can't believe his good fortune when he stumbles upon summer work at a resort in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. Hired as a dishwasher, Byron is excited to spend his summer in the beautiful outdoors. But his expectations are quickly dashed when he encounters hellish working conditions, and is forced to live in a vermin-ridden bunkhouse with unbridled youths bent on doing drugs and alcohol. The picturesque mountains that surround the resort soon turn to concrete walls, and the tall pines seem to keep watch over him as sentry guards. Inevitably, Byron's unruly coworkers stir up trouble within the resort and with the townsfolk, with Byron finding himself caught in the middle. The story takes a Gothic turn as pressure mounts, triggering nightmares that nearly drive him to madness. Can he endure the summer's hardships by conquering his chimeras, or will he quit and return home? Rich in imagery and balanced with humorous dialogue, A Summer in the Catskills artfully depicts individual stories of desperation, tragedy, absurdity, and unhealed emotional wounds.
