In 21st-century China, a journalist and a former dissident, once the best of friends, lead very different lives. When one goes to jail, the other confronts rampant corruption to find his friend.

A shy American librarian and her abrasive mother travel to Italy, where a visit with a beautiful Italian countess stirs up the daughter's insecurity about her terrible teeth — and re-animates her rage at her mother, who neglected to have them fixed.