Jack Waterman is a writer who owns a bookstore in Quebec City. Jimmy is an aspiring writer with no roots and no experience. When one day Jimmy wanders into Jack's store, Jack becomes his mentor. Jimmy goes to Paris, but returns to Quebec when Jack takes a turn for the worse. Jack suffers from Eisenhower's disease, his name for Alzheimer's, and although it is progressing slowly, he is aware that at some point soon he is going to lose his faculties.