Book excerpt: From his vivid memories, Clayton gathers a quirky cast of characters: Minnie, his zealously religious maternal grandmother, who refers to Kansas City as Sodom and Gomorrah; Buck, his paternal grandfather, a cold but handsome devil who commits suicide before Clayton's birth; Old Man Pierce, the callous, greedy pharmacist who cringes at the sight of Clayton and the rest of the "drugstore cowboys"; and Ed, the cabbie, who reads and quotes Spinoza while hanging out at the Home Plate, an all-night eatery and favorite haunt of Clayton's.