A hilarious and heartbreaking coming-of-age tale - big, bold, American fiction about love, friendship and the Iraq War Mickey Montauk and Halifax Corderoy are the Encyclopaedists. Held together by- a common sense of humour, Seattle, a handful of wild nights, a nonsensical shared Wikipedia page. Pushed apart by- Boston versus Baghdad, the Iraq War, a shared girl. Freshly graduated from high school, these two friends are about to be thrust into new lives. Montauk's National Guard unit are deploying abroad; Corderoy must take up his place at college and decide what to do about Mani, his suddenly-homeless not-quite-girlfriend. Worlds apart, still clinging to pieces of their old selves, the year to come will force them both to question what adulthood, friendship and happiness really look like - and will leave them both transformed.