Shed is a half-breed bisexual boy who earns his keep at Ida Richilieu's outrageously pink whorehouse in the tiny turn- of- the- century town of Excellent, Idaho. Leaving behind the nights of drinking, talking and smoking opium stardust with his eccentric family, Shed sets off alone in search of the meaning of his Indian name and in search of himself.

Along the way he falls in love with Dellwood Barker, a man who talks to the moon and who may be Shed's father. But it is not until Shed is back in Excellent and Isa has lost her legs and Dellwood his mind, that he attains the wisdom for which he is searching.