Langston James McHenry was born ugly, and became even uglier after a series of misadventures, including two automobile accidents. Yet he is happy with his life, with his wife Cowie Retch Vanessy, whose disfigurations equal his own, and with their unappealing first child Halstead, until their second child, Gabriel, turns out so beautiful and perfect that Langston struggles to understand the hypocrises and ironies of his life.