There are works of fiction so flawlessly constructed, expansive in scope, daring in form and supple in prose that a reader has to pull back for a moment to allow time for awe. Such books endure, like cathedrals, monuments to the creative spirit. But often as not, you can make the argument that though they are Great Books, they aren't always great books. The pleasures of reading are twofold: first the childlike immersion in the book's world, then the adult, critical pleasure of admiring its construction. If the latter obscures the former, both pleasures are diluted. Not so with Carolyn Chute's latest book, a 700-page piece of wonderful, infuriating, narrative energy.

"Treat Us Like Dogs and We Will Become Wolves" revolves around a very specific place — fictional Egypt, Maine — at a very specific time: 1999-2000. Egypt has been Chute's setting since her first book, and in the past 30 years, its woods and rocky, moss-spattered hills have become densely populated with characters.

One is Gordon St. Onge, founder of the Settlement, a mixture of boarding school and utopian attempt. New England breeds free thinkers and social experiments, but St. Onge is not the usual charismatic alpha male around whom such communities form. He's sometimes fiery, but also beset with doubt, confusion and mother issues.

On his trail is Ivy Morelli, cub reporter, wrestling hilariously with her inability to maintain a composed, consistent "adult" persona. Also — among literally scores of vivid others — there's Brianna, flame-haired adolescent genius with a "deformed" but lovely face; a wisecracking philosopher/woodsman; and the "Greys," alien anthropologists in invisible hovercrafts. Other speaking parts include: the media, planet Earth's forests, the voice of Mammon, and time, which has a few things of its own to say. When summer people (always trouble) alert the media to possible "cult" activity, events are set in motion.

What's at stake in the book is what's always, in some sense, at stake: the fate of the planet, a planet the Greys, despite their Star Trekkian observer status, find beautiful. Of the northern arboreal forests they can't help but chime: "Miles and miles of robust precious beings, bacteria, fungi, mites, grubs … alive and kicking molecules … all in concert with snow, rime, ice soil, and leaf. Oh Marvel!"

This is the work of a writer at the peak of her craft, which doesn't make it perfect. Sometimes the school, which is supposed to provide a revolutionary counterweight to Mammon, seems a bit too whimsically idyllic: salons on Plato while drinking "hemlock" tea at homemade tables covered with crocheted blankets. It'll take more than that to deal with Mammon, I'm afraid. But her mistakes are brave ones. Better to risk stumbling than risk nothing. Like another writer who often strayed into whimsy, Kurt Vonnegut, she's not afraid to appear clumsy in the pursuit of grace, which is one of the things that makes this book great. And, yes, Great.

"Treat Us Like Dogs and We Will Become Wolves," by Carolyn Chute

Emily Carter is a writer in Connecticut.