Don't Say Charm is a bildungsroman set in the city of Baltimore in the early 2000s. It chronicles the adventures of Caffer, a student at Johns Hopkins University, and his girlfriend Emily, as they navigate a web of parties, friends, and relationships, eventually leading to Caffer's self-imposed exile in Mexico during a period of political tumult, and a tragic ending that pulls him back to his home state of New York. The time capsule-like narrative weaves in various depictions and descriptions of early millennial life in the United States.