Editing Suttree (section)

==Plot summary==
The novel begins with Suttree observing police pull a suicide victim from the river. Suttree lives alone in a houseboat, on the fringes of society on the Tennessee River, earning money by fishing for the occasional [[catfish]]. He has left a life of luxury, rejecting his parents' influence, and abandoned his wife and young son.
[[File:Knoxville bridges.jpg|thumb|left|Bridges over the Tennessee River that are featured in ''Suttree''.]]
A large cast of characters, largely composed of [[wiktionary:misfit|misfit]]s and [[grotesque#In literature|grotesque]]s, is introduced, one of which is a dimwitted young man named Gene Harrogate, whom Suttree meets during a short stint in a work camp-style prison. Harrogate was sent to prison after being caught "violating" a farmer's watermelons. Suttree attempts to help Harrogate stay out of trouble after he is released, but this task proves vain as Harrogate sets off on a series of misadventures, including using poisoned meat and a slingshot to kill bats ("flitter-mice" as Harrogate calls them) to earn a [[bounty (reward)|bounty]] on them, and using dynamite in an attempt to tunnel underneath the city and burgle the [[treasury]]. Other prominent characters are prostitutes, hermits, alcoholics, and an aged [[Geechee]] witch.

His relationships with women all come to bad ends. One prostitute-girlfriend terminates the relationship in a moment of madness, smashing up the inside of their new car. He becomes involved with a teenage girl from a destitute family, but awakens in the night to find her crushed to death by a landslide that falls on their homeless encampment. Prior to the beginning of the book, Suttree was also married to a woman he apparently met at university. He left his wife with a young son, who dies of an illness early on in the book. He watches the funeral from afar, and proceeds to bury the boy alone once the other mourners leave.

Towards the novel's end, Suttree falls ill with [[typhoid fever]] and suffers a lengthy [[hallucination]]. This occurs after a black friend of Suttree is killed in a fight with the police and Harrogate is arrested in a failed robbery attempt. In the end, he feels his identity as an individual is affirmed by his time living in destitution, and he leaves Knoxville, seeking a new life.