It is a surrealist story set in the pre-civil war south, concerning a superhuman protagonist named Hiram Walker who possesses photographic memory, but who cannot remember his mother, and late in the novel is able to transport people over long distances by using a power known as conduction. This power is based in the power of memory and storytelling and can fold the Earth like fabric and allows him to travel across large areas via waterways.  Its about the era of slavery where a young black man who discovers that his memories trigger a mysterious power of teleportation that can help escaped slaves free.