A decade after they graduated from high school and went their separate ways, Casper, a soldier haunted by the horrors of war, and Rebecca, a whip-smart graduate student with a shaky future, reunite by chance and get to know each other over the course of an accidental tour of the little-known underbelly of Minneapolis. The evening's odyssey includes a bar fight, a house party, a punk-rock circus, a spontaneous burglary, a home Casper did not know he had, and a cast of strange characters, unexpected allies and disappointing friends.

This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.