Rowdy wakes up a drunk stranger on a lawn in his old suburban neighborhood, haunted by a heart-shattering divorce that leaves him hobbled and vulnerable in present day life.
Julian has fallen on hard times, drinking all night in a liquor store parking lot and reminiscing about his adolescence, when he transcended an abusive father and schoolyard bullies by training to become a world class bicycle racer.
Julian is weighed down by his wife's heroin addiction as he struggles to focus on what could be his band, Spent Saints, lucky day - a gig at LA's Rainbow Room and interest from legendary producer Lick Lubenstein.
Julian and his lead guitarist are invited to producer Lick Lubenstein's Hollywood Hills home for a career-making opportunity. But Julian jeopardizes his band's career when cocaine tempers flare.
Julian and his best friend Tinkles drive to their dealer's house in Phoenix to score crystal meth, only to find a pregnant tweaker, a woman whose face was eaten by maggots, and a hate-filled Jesus.
Julian holes up in Phoenix, only leaving his apartment to walk to the convenience store to buy a 40-ounce malt liquor. He befriends the store clerk and his neighbor, and they share truth and brotherhood on Julian's front stoop.
Julian continues to drink and falls in love with a single mother and exotic dancer, Serena, who turns him on to crystal meth. When Julian learns of his friend Rowdy's murder, he begins to question his lifestyle.
When Julian and Serena run out of crystal meth, they are forced to trudge on foot across town to her grandmother's apartment, where she ditches Julian to score and he is left jonesing and alone with her crazy Grams.
Julian moves to Detroit, where his body finally gives out after years of alcohol abuse. Sick and white-knuckling, Julian worries that he will lose his edge as a journalist and his girlfriend now that he is sober.
Tween sisters create their own alternative reality to escape the pain of their mother's meth addiction and suicide, shepherded by a kindly next-door neighbor.