Orloff Trenchant is a painter who sells books on West 4th Street in Manhattan and is obsessed with mastering his craft. Desperate for cash, Orloff agrees to take a commission no one else will touch: he has three weeks to carve a headstone for a recently deceased Chinese restaurateur in the shape of a Chinese takeout box. As Orloff attempts to make his deadline, he navigates a toxic mix of fellow artists, struggling gallery owners, and a haunting drug addict poet whose life is more out of control than his own.