The cover copy says that the main character's father is a mountain and his mother is a washing machine. Of his brothers, three function as nesting dolls and a fourth is an island. These are not metaphors. The story is pretty surreal, but engrossing--the nesting-doll brothers have been taken and likely killed by another brother, one who has always demonstrated great capacity for cruelty and was killed in childhood. Throw in a woman with wings, and you've got the makings of a pretty trippy story. 
 It's not quite enough story to fill a book, though, and Doctorow fills it out with a secondary story--the main character is helping a friend set up a "mesh net"--mounting wireless access points all over downtown to provide free wireless internet. The two stories really don't have a lot to do with each other, and it ends up feeling almost like the author had two novellas in his head and decided to jam them together. The writing is pretty strong (except in the dialogue), and it was an enjoyable book all around. It just didn't come together as well as I'd like.