At the opening of the novel a stranger walks out of a bar and is later found dead at the wheel of his car. The narrator, on the basis of a few overheard remarks and his own perceptions, creates the story of this man—or rather, two stories, based on the two personae that he has imagined. One is named Enderlin; the other, Gantenbein. Gantenbein wears dark glasses and pretends to be blind, a device that enables him to see people as they are, because they think they are unobserved. His adventures with Lila, the actress, and Camilla, the call girl, raise tantalizing questions about the shifting relationships between men and women.