Nine linked essays that evoke a vivid impression of the United States: police violence and gun culture, ethnic cleansing and denied history, spellbinding landscapes and brutal weather. Askew spotlights the complex history of her home state, from the Trail of Tears to the Tulsa Race Riot to the Oklahoma City Bombing, as she contends that we must own our contradictory selves—our violence and prejudices, as well as our hard work and generosity—in order for the wounds of division to heal.