This novel takes place in two environments. The even numbered chapters tell the story of Carl Norberg who decided when he was in high school that he wanted to work as an artist. He dropped out of a college he didn't like and enlisted in the army to avoid the draft. Sent to an Asian nation named Kulon, he continues painting in his spare time. He makes friends with a local artist and his family. As the war builds up, he becomes involved in the perils of armed conflict. After his military service ends, he goes home to recuperate and moves to a large eastern city called Botolph because his older brother lives there and the artistic life in the city seems promising. The odd-numbered chapters feature people in the arts community in Botolph or who are close to it, whom Carl gets to know -- an older artist, the owner of a gallery, the assistant director of a private library, Nola whom he loves and later marries, and people who are strongly opposed to Carl and seek to do him harm. These chapters also describe the relationships these people had with the controversial and costly war.