The time is the summer of 1978, the place an elegant country villa in the outskirts of Padua, Italy. Lisa and Bob, two American yuppies in their mid-twenties, have been invited to sojourn there during their vacations by the owner, Cesare, though he be absent; neither was forewarned, however, of the other's probable presence. Had they met somewhere back home in the States, they might have had a one-night stand: in finding themselves instead in a foreign country and forced to spend several days together at the same important house, they cannot but manifest their own and discover each other's deeper nature. Several months later, in the course of a visit to the villa in the company of two of his lady friends, Cesare - who has received letters of complaint from Lisa and Bob about their experiences while they were his guests - reflects in depth, from his own cosmopolitan perspective, on what may have occurred to make their stays so unpleasant.