Rome, 1955. The artists are gathering together for a photograph. Bear Bavinsky, creator of vast, masculine, meaty canvases, is their god. From the side of the room watches little Pinch - their son. Later, Pinch will be striving to live up to the Bavinsky name. Trying to burn brightly under his father's shadow, Pinch's attempts flicker and die. A novel about fathers and sons, art and the meaning of life free of legacy.