"Some people take up knitting or gardening or such to get their minds off their troubles. Unfortunately for Kittie, she took up fornicating. Bless her heart."

Cal Weems, an eccentric and idle gentleman, lives in a small, rural town in Louisiana, occasionally residing with his widowed big sister, Ida. Upon occasion, he sleeps in the local family cemetery, and communes with nature, and more importantly, the spirits. He happens to be also one of the town drunks. Virtually his entire life has been spent roaming around his small community chronicling his fellow Castorites' oddities and peculiarities, which provide him with mindless entertainment. He fellowships with his big sister, a staunch Southern Baptist, who heartily prays for his redemption from lifelong idleness and drink. Mick, his great-nephew, a beer joint proprietor, dabbles in gambling, bootlegging, and light prostitution. He helps Cal at times along the way. Eventually, Cal receives an epiphany of sorts from the spirits, specifically his late brother, Cotton, and other departed family members, to sober up and fly right. He then proceeds with a late-in-life mission of helping fellow misfits and lonely people.