The White Pig: A True History in Eight Books follows, though not in perfect order, the terrible curse that haunts four generations of the Depew family of Valhalla, KY, a large city on the Ohio River across from the border between Ohio and Indiana. Corey Depew, scion and the ultimate victim, comes of age in 1957 (exactly 100 years after the curse was uttered). It was the era of the Everly Brothers and existentialism. Along the way he loses much (face, virginity, and religion), and gains a little (love, for instance). Meanwhile, in the background, a great white pig, symbol of evil, drifts through the forests above the city, finally arriving at the climactic moment when an earthquake destroys the ancient Indian serpent mound, and the house built upon it.