Crotchety Oliver Capstick is a book reviewer who has the power to ruin writers, which he does with callous disregard for the consequences. He works from his home, an old out-of-the-way house, lives with his cat, Milton, and holds only a tenuous connection to one other human being, the Postman who delivers the tomes he's charged to read and review. One such tome, a black book, which Oliver tosses directly into the trash, is about to force him to review his own life with the same callous disregard for the consequences.