David Kepesh, an adventurous man of intelligence & feeling, tries to make his way to both pleasure & dignity through a world of sensual possibilities. Temptation comes to him in both its ordinary & spectacular forms, & the novel charts the history of his desire from the early years, when he is acceded to it totally, to the time when he attempts to domesticate his passions (and his wife's) & finally to that most surprising moment when desire ebbs &, frighteningly, seems on the brink of disappearance. The book explores in all its painful ramifications, the pursuit & loss of erotic happiness.