"In a Jerusalem both ancient and modern, where the First Temple squats over the populace like a Trump casino, where the streets are literally crawling with prophets and heathen helicopters buzz over Old Testament sovereigns, two young poets are about to have their lives turned upside down. Struggling Jeremiah is worried that he might be wasting his time trying to be a writer, particularly after the career-making critic Broch beats him bloody with his own computer keyboard. The buff, tattooed Mattaniah, on the other hand, is a real up-and-comer, but he has a secret he wouldn't want anyone in the literary world to know: his late father was the King of Judah. Jeremiah begins to despair, and in that despair he has a vision: that Jerusalem is doomed, and that Mattaniah will not only be forced to ascend to the throne but will thereafter witness his people slaughtered and exiled. But what does it mean to tell a friend and rival that his future is bleak? What sorts of grudges and biases turn true vision into false prophecy? Can the very act of speaking a prediction aloud make it come true? And, if so, does that make you a seer, or just a schmuck?" -- Front jacket flap.