Harry Street is a writer who loses his intellectual and emotional way after early commercial success. While on safari in Africa, he pricks his leg on an poisonous thorn and falls ill. His wealthy wife is at his side, trying desperately to keep him alive. While delirious from fever, he reflects back on his colorful life from his teenage years in the Midwest to his travels in Europe and then Africa. He looks back on his one great love, and the circumstances that tore them apart. Through his recollections, he tries to find the meaning of life and work.