When a middle-aged Jewish man is captured during the Iranian Revolution, he spends the time in his cell mentally designing an intricate rug. Now freed and living in America with his son, the man struggles to be fully present in his life, though he does develop an interest in his daughter-in-law.

A Polish man living in America who inherits the title of Count after his parents' death has spent his life studying and teaching political philosophy in Chicago. His formal and aristocratic habits stick out among Americans, and when he begins dating one of his students, a young Jewish woman and a divorcee, he wonders if he can ever truly change his ways.