At home in the South, a retired and aging Jay Bluffing runs across an old magazine article that triggers the remembrance of a significant period in his life, decades ago. It's the mid-1980s and Bluffing, crushed by an incident involving his law practice, has left Kentucky and landed on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. As he wanders the city in search of himself, his wry sense of humor intact, a chance meeting with playwright and screenwriter Marty Sequatchee throws Bluffing into a world of Off-Broadway theatre, beautiful young actresses ... and murder.