Meet Basil Grant — former judge, occasional philosopher, and full-time eccentric — as he stumbles into a secret society unlike any other. In this exclusive club, the only rule of entry is that each member must invent a brand-new profession. The more bizarre, the better. When Basil's skeptical brother and a skeptical ex-detective friend get caught in a series of baffling encounters — including duels in flower gardens, poetry-as-business, and suspiciously polite assassins — they soon uncover a world where the line between genius and madness is dangerously thin.