On the eve of his 78th birthday, the ailing, alcoholic writer Clive Langham spends a painful and sleepless night mentally composing and recomposing scenes for a novel in which characters based on his own family are shaped by his fantasies and memories, alongside his caustic commentary on their behaviour.
Aquiles Taveira is a civil servant harassed by his own family's financial demands. Tired of it, he decides to fake an embezzlement at his work and runs away to the seaside resort of Guarujá, where he manages to live peacefully, for too short a time.
