Summary

The novel begins with the narrator describing Hector, a young psychiatrist who is dissatisfied with his life. He is a financially successful psychiatrist who never lacks of patients and is very good at going through the motions of his profession. Hector prides himself in saying the right things, making the right "mmmhmmm" noises during therapy sessions, prescribing the right kind of medicine, and even having the right kind of office. He works in a wealthy part of a wealthy city, and sees everything on the surface as being just as it should be. The only problem is that Hector is dissatisfied because no matter how hard he tries, he cannot make his patients happy.

He can make them feel a little better until their next appointment, but he sees no lasting impact on his patients' happiness, and he therefore grows tired of seemingly...