The story of a young man who sleepwalks each night and is a threat to himself and others, unable to control his baser passions. Set outside Philadelphia in 1787, the book is a metaphor for the founding of a new nation, but can be read on a literal level as an American "Gothic" novel.

The story of a young man who sleepwalks each night and is a threat to himself and others, unable to control his baser passions. Set outside Philadelphia in 1787, the book is a metaphor for the founding of a new nation, but can be read on a literal level as an American "Gothic" novel.