A hole in the earth

the long version

"Henry Porter's summer begins when his daughter Nicole - whom he hasn't seen in five years - shows up on his doorstep. Days later, his girlfriend, Elizabeth, announces that she is pregnant. That Henry is speechless at these two events throws into sharp relief his emotional landscape, and this novel charts that landscape's exact contours. Anyone who has ever wondered what a man is saying when he isn't talking will find a large part of the answer here."--BOOK JACKET.