"Mark Sternum returns from PERFECT AGREEMENT to his work as a professor of creative writing in Boston. He is someone in love with his work and in love with the classroom. He is devoted to his students, even to those who don't exactly deserve his devotion. His lifelong partner is away for an extended stay in Europe, and Mark finds himself waiting anxiously on his return and somewhat in disarray whenever he is not actually in the familiar ground of teaching. And then a departmental "crisis" occurs as the department chair challenges Mark's grade for a student"--