A Boy's Guide to Outer Space1963. Hattertown, Connecticut. Leo "Half" Napoli mourns his dead hat factory worker father while daydreaming of being the first man on the moon and thereby partaking of something of the infinite. Meanwhile, he and his fellow Back Shop Boys (their fathers all worked in the dangerous, mercury fume laden back shops of hat factories) seek to learn the identity of the mysterious Man in Blue, who wanders the town collecting odd items in his rucksack.