In Veritas, the City of Truth, people have been brutally conditioned to always tell the truth, no matter how unnerving (or droll) the truth may be. It will come as no surprise, then, that elevators in Veritas carry the notice This Elevator Is Maintained by People Who Hate Their Jobs. Ride at Your Own Risk. Or that cigarette packs say Warning: The Surgeon General's Crusade Against This Product May Distract You from the Myriad Ways Your Government Fails to Protect Your Health.

Jack Sperry leads a rather routine life as a "deconstructionist," destroying "mendacious" old works of art, until his beloved son, Toby, is bitten by a rabbit at Camp Ditch-the-Kids and contracts a rare disease. Jack must somehow learn to lie if, as he comes to believe, lying is the only way to give Toby enough hope to effect a cure.