Mervyn Kaplansky, a young aspiring writer, rents a room in the home of a Jewish couple, Mr. and Mrs. Hersh, and their son. Mr. Hersh feels skeptical of Mervyn's claims about being an up-and-coming writer, but Mrs. Hersh is a bit starstruck. Meryvn makes large claims about his artistic abilities and boasts about the future success of his book. Rumors take off around the small community as Mrs. Hersh brags about the writer. Molly, the most beautiful girl in town, starts to date Mervyn, and even Mr. Hersh takes a liking to him when he finds one of his stories in a small magazine.

When Mervyn mails his manuscript to a major publisher in New York, the whole family awaits the news. He only receives rejection letters and returns, but Mervyn continues to supply excuses. He says that he received personal letters from head editors and that the best writers regularly have their work turned down. The pressure builds and people start expecting him to get a summons from Hollywood any day. Molly starts to buy fancy clothes in preparation for their future marriage and home in California. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Hersh is the only one who catches Mervyn crying in secrecy.

When Mervyn gets too far behind on rent, Mr. and Mrs. Hersh get fed up of waiting for his book to succeed. Mervyn suddenly turns up with a letter from New York, which claims that a publisher wants his book and will pay thousands for it. The next night, they throw a huge party for him, and Mervyn says the publishers need him to go to Hollywood right away. He leaves, and they never see him again. The rent money he owed continues to slowly get mailed in from Toronto.