Stone Arabia tells the story of a brother and sister, Nik and Denise, now in their forties. The sister is the reluctant caregiver in the family, dealing with an ailing mother and single-parenting her twenty-something daughter. The brother is a failed rock musician. Rather than confront his lack of success head-on, Nik creates a highly detailed fictional world where his imaginary band releases records; they're reviewed; there's correspondence with "fans"; fawning press coverage; and more. It's all very ornate, and somewhat charming; if also deranged. He actually makes the music, too, and dutifully sends off hand-crafted editions to his immediate friends and family. But he's winding down his main musical series -- a set of CDs started at 20 and he's just issued #1 -- and his sister fears the worst.
