The book is based on a commonplace, at first glance, plot—an exchange of professors between American and British universities. Usually everything goes smoothly and routinely. But this time, the exchange involves two antipodes, and on opposite shores of the Atlantic events unfold like a whirlpool that draws in everyone—students, colleagues, and even wives. Without letting the reader get bored on any page, the author leads them to a finale that seems to surprise even him.