In May of 2000, a group of masked paramilitary gunmen opens fire on the crowd at an outdoor festival in Wichita, Kansas, killing 86 people. Danny Clayton, innocent bystander, is caught on video laughing in the midst of the carnage. Thereafter, dubbed "Laughin' Boy" he becomes the focal point for the nation's rage and horror at the event. Unable to stop laughing, he is left little choice but to enter "treatment" with a pair of celebrity psychiatrists. But, of course, in Bradley Denton's dark comedy, nothing is quite what it seems.

Although the first edition of this novel (a limited edition hardcover from Subterranean Press) appeared in 2005 and this trade paperback edition is appearing from Wheatland Press in 2008, the text was completed (except for minor revisions) prior to September 11, 2001.