Plot summary

David, who calls himself Samuel, is in graduate school at Yale but needs to take some time off and discover new things while getting away from normal life. He takes a bus to Oregon, informs his mother by phone that he doesn't want to stay in touch, and goes to work picking apples. His girlfriend was going to join him but she got a ride with another guy who she now likes. Most of David's co-workers are Mexican because local people seem to be "too good" for this sort of work. David speaks almost no Spanish and the others speak little English, but he tries to make friends with Pedro. It's not really clear if he has. Hobbs, his boss, isn't particularly nice, but when his nephew dies, he lets David have the nephew's trailer and tells him the nephew's job at an apple processing plant is open.The workers are miserable and don't seem to care to socialize with David. With one exception: Curly is really nice. But he has a secret, so he won't be David's best friend after all.It is obvious what's coming. Earlier in town, David met Jon, a man passing out literature about C.O.G., which wants people to follow Christ. David already told us on the bus that religion is for people who want to feel special, and he's not interested in the "ghosts" that those people follow.So David and Jon will meet again. Jon is an artist living in the basement of some church members, making Oregon-shaped jade clocks. He has a past and religion has been good for him.So will David find Jesus? Will his friendship with Jon work out? Will David return to his normal life?