Super Short Summary

In Loon Lake by E. L. Doctorow, teenager Joseph Korzeniowski flees his working-class roots in 1936 Paterson, New Jersey, to seek adventure and escape in New York City and a traveling carnival before finding refuge and employment at a millionaire's estate in the Adirondacks, where he becomes entangled in complex relationships and the tumultuous dynamics of big business and labor unions in pre-WWII America. The book includes references to a sexual affair, murder, exploitation, and systemic labor conflicts.