The narrator is writing a combination novel and play in which he introduces readers to three actors who perform in the play he is writing. One of them owns a bar in Pierpoint, Ohio. He forms a bond with one of the customers. Together, they deal with a drunken banker and a bully ... the day after the January 6th insurrection. The third actor (a middle-aged man) is trying to make a comeback after years of alcoholism, but succumbs to temptation and loses his opportunity. The characters and story line serve as a way to examine where we are in the US and whether or not we can survive the world of our own making.