"Fifteen dollars and three cents," (page 3) this is how the story begins. Ginger Coffey, the main character of this book, is an Irish man with an overwhelming amount of pride. His wife, Veronica, was believed to have "fell in love" with a man by the name of Gerry Grosvenor and later realizes that she was a fool with a fickle mind. Coffey also has a daughter named Paulie, who shares many of Veronica's characteristics. As the story develops, he is able to cut through his cheap layer of plastic flesh and see the unselfish man buried within him. He is able to build a new flesh of gold, and seal it off with love, which takes a lot of hard work and suffering. But in the end, as Coffey realizes, it's all worth it.

Coffey's overflowing fountain of pride is what holds him back from so many opportunities...