Morris Schutt, a prominent newspaper columnist, is experiencing disaster: his son has just been killed in Afghanistan; his newspaper has put him on indefinite leave; his wife seems headed for the door; he is strongly attracted to another woman; and his daughter appears to be having an affair with one of her professors. He tries Cicero, Plato and Socrates for truth and a discreet dating service for happiness, but discovers that they're not that easy to find.