Nicholas Baronski, a professor of American Literature who retires before he becomes too cynical about human nature and love, decides to write his first novel, a novel about his grade school sweetheart, Karen Oldinski. Here the novel becomes a novel within a novel as Nicholas Baronski becomes his character, Victor Sarinski, and his sweetheart, Karen Oldinski, becomes his character, Carol Loczech, in his novel entitled, The Queen of Spades. Baronski's novel consists of a number of funny vignettes involving Victor Sarinski (i.e. Nicholas Baronski) and a wealth of characters, some actual people from his past, though fictionalized, and some totally fictionalized. The vignettes track the two worlds of Victor Sarinski: his Midwest, 50's, Catholic world, where he meets his grade school sweetheart, the Queen of Spades, and his California, 60's and 70's, public world, where he is introduced to the larger world of sex, capitalism and Protestants. Both worlds introduce a wealth of characters, where each character is involved in a story that constitutes part of the early life of Nicholas Baronski. But when fiction intersects with real life, Nicholas Baronski is faced with a decision that could change his life forever. The novel is a laugh out loud look at three decades of American life, at the vast differences between private and public education, at the contrasting lifestyles of the Midwest and the West, and at the lasting power of love. The novel harkens back to a time where love preceded sex and exposes the tender underside of boys' sexual and emotional development.