An unpublished writer and a chronic alcoholic, Boris Alikhanov is short of cash, at odds with the government and divorced from his wife Tatyana, who intends to emigrate to the West with their daughter Masha. The prospect of a summer job as a tourist guide at the Pushkin Hills preserve offers him hope of bringing back some balance into his existence, but during his stay in the rural estate of Mikhaylovskoye, Alikhanov's life continues to unravel and all his problems come to a head.