Grady Barden is tired of working at Pizza Del Reino, but as much as he believes there's something bigger waiting for him, he's also beginning to accept that it won't be his band. He has been questing for an answer or sign for many years, but these 'Grailings' he ventures out on with his best friend Lane and cousin Dwayne haven't turned up any obvious clues. When his father decides to buy the pizza place to rebuild a family heritage lost to the failure of the Wisconsin railroads, Grady is squeezed between the responsibility of family and his own desperation to break free from his stagnant life. Grady will find guidance from the curmudgeonly half-Lakota Indian, Merle, and the alluring but acerbic labor council secretary, Gwen, but ultimately, he will be left to face his hardest challenges on his own.