twelve year-old jet tells anyone who will listen that they've got to face life's frustrations. his older brother violently disagrees. his father firmly believes that chaos breeds chaos and order begets order, and is living disproof of the theorem. meanwhile his mother is in the throes of the fourteenth of what will ultimately be seventeen religious sects she will belong to, fervently rehearsing the art of speaking in tongues in front of the mirror. life is eccentrically calm until jet launches a series of zen-like break-ins. only the display materials are stolen from cordin's jewelers. the grocery bags are missing from the food house. the penultimate national bank opens with no deposit slips. by the time the media, particularly the weekly world scene, grab hold of it the town is in an uproar. then the quite reverend john joseph matthew paul iii pitches his orange and blue striped tent in the parking lot of the now-closed two guys store and holds a revival meeting which changes everyone's life. including his own.