The Final Days is the story of philosophy Professor John Carter, who near the end of one fall semester becomes romantically entangled with a female student. At the time the University is undergoing changes and faculty positions are threatened. In the ensuing weeks Carter's office-mate dies mysteriously and Carter is dragged through a particularly vicious dismissal. And although Carter is victimized for his indiscretions by the University administrators who want to turn the University into a profitable business, in the end Carter proves to be one of literature's most American professors. He is no screwed up Easterner with Old World baggage. He watches football games, owns a handgun, and eats fast food, as he rambles through a story clearly and profoundly put forth in an academic setting, where American culture ought to be exempt from assaults on Virtue, Quality, Integrity, and where the macdonaldization of society hurts most.