Content Warning: This section includes discussions of animal euthanasia.

At the beginning of the novel, William is living in the aftermath of some difficult changes in his life. His parents have been divorced for three years, and his grandfather has just died. The happy, stable life he remembers from his early childhood has vanished, leaving him adrift. William’s mother decides to get him a dog to help him process his grief, but her plan backfires when animal control officers impound Riley for his dangerous behavior. The incident with Riley also destroys William’s previously congenial relationship with his neighbor, Peachie. All of these issues leave William yearning for a simpler past—a time before everything went wrong. He struggles to accept everything that has happened to him and does not want to embrace the future. To him, the future seems unpleasant since it involves his father marrying a woman William has never met, his dog being euthanized, and his once-beloved neighbor being directly responsible for his dog’s death. 

William longs to return to his vision of an idealized past, but over time, he realizes that the vision he conjures up is an impossible fantasy. When he watches his interview on television, he thinks that in the past, his grandfather, father, and neighbor would have been there to share the moment with him, and Riley would have been sitting at his feet.