<p>Mary and Bickerman are the center of their circle of friends--but these friends are strangers as well as family to them. In the course of year, under the influence of a stressful wedding and a whole lot of alcohol, relationships and nerves are twisted and broken as the dynamics of the cozy-seeming group shift. Secrets are kept, emotions withheld, and it doesn't look like it's going to end well for anyone.</p> <p>Told always in first person, but not the same person, and unfolding in double-helix chronology that provides a <i>Rashomon</i>-like narration, <i>Chum</i> is the story of love, liquor, and death.</p>