Everett and Kincaid present a fictitious chronicle of South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond's desire to pen a history of black Americans - his and his aides' belief being that he has done as much, or more, than any American to shape that history. An epistolary novel, the history' follows the letters of loose-cannon Congressional office workers, insane interns at a large New York publishing house, and disturbed publishing executives, along with homicidal rival editors, kind family friends ad an aspiring author named Septic.'