Dewey Cellars arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, in the fall of 1989 to attend college. But he hasn't come seeking a degree; rather he's come seeking himself through the pursuit of Angel Boy, a privileged, Lowcountry native whose impossible perfection is Dewey's every envy. Against the backdrop of prolific flora, unrelenting heat, even an approaching hurricane, the chase is on through the Holy City, as Dewey ultimately and sometimes painfully discovers that becoming part o the club is a lesson all its own.