Mickey, Jimbo, and Lemon come of age in the village of Bridgeton in the 1950s, "escapading" along the Wisconsin River in central Wisconsin. They swim around the sandbar at Discovery Beach, tramp through the wilds of Skunk Hollow, and fish for walleyes near Little Bull Falls alongside Dirty Joe. Bridgeton captivates them as ten-year-olds and sustains them as teenagers, despite sorrows and misfortune.

After they leave their hometown, they continue to circle back to each other as the inevitabilities of life propel them through setbacks and losses. In a series of twenty-nine interrelated stories that covers six decades, the Bridgeton buddies evolve into a deeper friendship and ponder the essence of time passing and death arising. In the process, they develop a spirited belief in the state of mind that is Bridgeton.