Everything is over for Simon Axler. A leading American actor of his generation, Simon has lost his magic, his talent, and his assurance. When he goes on stage he feels like a lunatic and imagines people laughing at him. His wife is gone, his audience has left him, and his agent can't persuade him to make a comeback.

The hero of Everyman is obsessed with mortality. As he reminds himself at one point, "I'm thirty-four! Worry about oblivion when you're seventy-five." But he cannot help himself. He is the ex-husband in three marriages gone wrong. He is the father of two sons who detest him, despite a daughter who adores him. And as his health worsens, he is the envious brother of a much fitter man.

The life of an old man who lives for sex. He is Morris Sabbath, 64, a New York puppeteer who made his name with lewd performances. Feeling death approaching, he relives his many amorous adventures in graphic detail.