The Whale Chaser is the story of Vince Sansone, the eldest child and only son in a large Italian-American family, who comes of age in 1960s Chicago. A constant disappointment to his embittered father, Vince finds solace in Marie Santangelo, the neighborhood butcher's winsome daughter, and Lucy Sheehan, an older girl with a reputation. When Vince abruptly flees Chicago he ends up in Tofino, a fishing town on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. He finds a job gutting fish, then is hired by Tofino's most colorful dealer, Mr.
