In contemporary Los Angeles a young high school teacher back from the Peace Corps and the virgin interior of North Borneo is trying to live before the fall, and bring his students with him as their catcher in the rye, in an all too fallen world intent on destroying him. MICHAEL REEVES has begun his second year teaching English at Palos Verdes Preparatory, the single child of the celebrated abstract painter LESLIE REEVES, a modern day Sappho and wealthy heiress. Raised to believe that the woman in every man is his deepest self, and imbued with the Eden and innocence of the remote world where he taught in the rain forest, Michael brings to the classroom a respect for his students and a passion that draw them to him, many of whom are in emotional distress. In the opening pages JENNIFER EASON, a senior who has felt belittled at this school, but discovers in Michael someone who appreciates her, finds a way to confess her love for him. This puts him in a dangerous position not only for professional reasons, but also because he learns another senior in the same class, BRADLEY HAWKINS, is in love with her. Bradley, a young man who is cynical over a world he sees as phoney, admits to Michael he broke off dating her because she didn't live up to his intellectual standards. But when he realizes Jennifer is in love with Michael, his jealousy creates a crisis Michael must find a way to resolve.