The novel takes the form of a broad confession, written in the first person, through which the main character, Victor Petrini, reconstructs his existence, trying to find its meaning. He has had several erotic experiences (Nineta, Căprioara, Matilda, Suzy) and, for various reasons, has failed in all of them. He studied philosophy and, as a young assistant, had a brilliant university career ahead of him, aspiring to create a new gnosis and to compose an essay on the Era of Villains. He married Matilda (creating uncertainty in his friendship with Petrică Nicolau, since she was his wife) and had a little girl with her, but the marital relationship develops under the sign of an incompatibility between the two and deteriorates very quickly.