After a prolonged sojourn in Europe, the senior newlyweds, Kip and Amanda return to the coastal village of Venice, Massachusetts.

Kip is the kind of person who is accustomed to his bread always landing jam side down, so the retired literature professor has mixed feelings about the unexpected success of his new book. On one hand, he is thrilled more than he dares admit, even to himself. On the other, he is afraid that it's all a dream from which he will wake up bitterly disappointed.

However, what awaits him on his return are adventures as diverse as being befriended by a thrill-seeking former Green Beret, getting analyzed by a group of partying psychologists, massaged by an outspoken woman colonel in the Israeli Army, and meeting his wife's very deadly real husband.

It's the kind of thing that could only happen to the long-suffering "Kip" Kippur.