Theolonius 'Monk' Ellison is an accomplished but seldom-read author who refuses to write the 'ghetto prose' that would buy him commercial success. After witnessing the runaway success of the latest novel in the genre, We's Lives in Da Ghetto, he hits back with the parody called My Pafology under the pen name Stagg R Leigh. 'Rewarded' with a six-figure advance and hailed as the new voice of black America, Ellison corners himself into leading a double-life, even as his sister is murdered and his family splinters around him. Demand grows for public appearances, and he faces a whole new set of problems. What is a self-respecting writer to do?