As a mid-aged man's friend dies, Bobby takes a look back at his childhood memories ... When mysterious out-of-towner, Ted, moves into the boarding house that 11-year-old Bobby shares with his self-involved mother, Bobby jumps at the chance to befriend an adult who talks to him straightforwardly. Ted enlists Bobby to read him the newspaper daily--and to keep an eye out for the "low men" bent on capturing Ted, who possesses a strange mind-reading power....

The story begins with the funeral of Tina, who leaves her new-born daughter 8 letters, one each to be presented to her on every one of her first eight birthdays. They slowly unfold the story of the lives of two best college-buddies and their love.