After the untimely death of his distant and supposedly affluent father, twenty-one year old Norman discovers that his only inheritance is a staggering debt, forcing him to drop out of university and abandon his academic aspirations. His mother having died giving birth to him, Norman now finds himself alone and desperate for guidance. In an attempt to make sense of his increasingly alienating circumstances, Norman begins chronicling his past in a diary. Norman describes a solitary childhood populated with imaginary mentors in the likes of Zeus, Pablo Picasso and Othello; mentors who visit him again now in this time of distress. The only rooting presence in his life, offering brief distractions from the confines of his artificially curated world, comes in the form of his elderly landlady Dolores who -for what would initially appear to be purely philanthropic motives- provides food and shelter for Norman, asking only for his company in return. Through their nightly conversations, Norman is forced to face the incongruity between the imaginary world he has fashioned for himself and the world as it exists outside of his control. As elements of his past begin to collide with the present, Norman must consider the differences between perception and reality, and the decisions with which the world confronts him.