The book opens with a bewildered young woman, Marina, who finds herself among a cast of legendary characters and fictional figures who are either the stars of great novels, or are in hungry pursuit of the great new novel to which to lend their eager countenance. The last thing Marina remembers she was on her way to Queens, when suddenly she finds herself on a park bench in conversation with a mercurial stranger, Roger Frommage. "You're in In The Beginning," he tells her, "a borough of dawns... of first lines where ideas arise... the land of promises."

Roger takes Marina to a "Glorious Fuss," a party where she meets the most brilliant stars of the literary universe. But the gala evening has a ring of uncertainty about it, and Marina discovers that all is not right in this land of fresh starts. A committee of six—the immortals of literature—get together to discuss what has gone wrong with the world, their world, the world of readers. Is it television that's diverting their audience? Why are they not being called as often anymore? Marina cannot solve their problem. Only one person can and that person is Pearl!