The original Socrates, somehow misplaced from his Ancient Greek origins into the twentieth century, travels with his philosophical companion Gerald on a road trip from Houston to San Francisco. Their already confused world is thrown further into disarray by the storytelling hitchhiker Geraldine. Interspersed with accounts of Geraldine's own strange sexual adventures, and an ever present power that seems to control her, their journey moves inexorably through increasing phases of appearance and reality to an unexpected and troubling conclusion.