Bernard Berkman is an arrogant, once-promising novelist whose career has gone into a slow decline as he spends more time teaching and less time writing. His unfaithful wife, Joan, has recently begun publishing her own work to widespread acclaim, which only increases the growing tension between them. One day, Bernard and Joan tell their two sons, 16-year-old Walt and 12-year-old Frank, that they are separating, with Bernard renting a house on the other side of Prospect Park (Brooklyn) from their home in Park Slope, Brooklyn.