It's 1974 in DeKalb County, Illinois and the planets have failed to align for Roy Conlon. Widowed and broke, his eight-year-old son Eric is suddenly a mystery to him. The boy has become aware of a sky awhirl with stars and of the universe outside his small-Midwestern town. And as powerful forces pull Eric away, Roy's efforts to hold onto his son are threatened by weakness, guilt, and his participation in a foolish crime.

Enter The Constellations, a novel of the diverging paths of a father and his son, and how each copes with the loss of the woman whose love and guidance held them together. Roy and Eric's parallel journeys take them through a landscape populated by long shot players and kitchen sink philosophers, by ruthless thieves and fierce protectors. A compelling novel of small town America in the shadow of Vietnam and Watergate, Cunningham's spare prose and deftly drawn heroes complete a portrait of our country reminiscent of Mark Richard and Jim Shepard. Scarred, divided, and damaged, his characters represent all of our false promises and failed dreams.

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In his concise, engrossing debut, Cunningham turns family dynamics upside down in a panoramic portrait of loss and grieving…. Evocative of Kent Haruf's and Anthony Doerr's, Cunningham's tenderness and terse prose style announce the arrival of an assured and perceptive literary voice.

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In this debut novel, Cunningham writes with confidence, employing a spare, straightforward style that conveys the story with fluid minimalism. The author's talent for quiet, meditative character studies is on full display in this slim slice of smalltown life.