This is the story of Simon Herbst, a twenty-five year old self-described "slacker" who lives in a Boston-area house with seven other young singles in order to cope with the region's high rents. He enjoys his work as a video store clerk and has a curvaceous young girlfriend who adores him. Yet Simon feels unsettled. He is fascinated by Melanie Dvorak, a bike messenger who lives across the hall from him. Melanie is an earthy, athletic, and politically-minded woman whose sexual orientation is questioned by her housemates. Over the waning years of the 1980s, Simon is challenged by his urges,...

Julian Phillips is an Off-Broadway director whose wife Daphne is recruited to appear on a reality TV show with other wealthy New Yorkers. Julian is tall, handsome, charming, and a shameless lecher. What could go wrong? Meanwhile, Julian does a favor for his estranged brother to handle an odd discovery in their late grandfather's estate. As Julian works on a new play, his extramarital affairs slip out of his control and he is confronted with family secrets that threaten to disrupt his home life. Can Julian overcome the flaws he's grown comfortable with in a time of crisis?