The main character, Dr. Sandra Foster, studies fads in Boulder, Colorado.

Her employer, Hi-Tek, wants to know how to predict fads, in order to take advantage of this knowledge and thus to possibly create one.

Willis also creates a subtle reworking of Robert Browning's Pippa Passes.

Browning's work, which is explicitly mentioned in Willis's, tells the story of a cheerful girl named Pippa who in passing by folks in a village influences everyone to the good.

In Willis's novel, the administrative assistant Flip likewise influences everyone, though not in a charming manner.