A shoemaker and his wife being photographed for their wedding anniversary keep adding items to the picture despite the photographer's admonition that "Simple pictures are best."

Eve is the hero, skeptical of Adam’s claims to be in touch with God. This is not an Eden of miracles; it is an Eden miraculously alive with mischief, humanity, and human feeling.

Much of the surrounding book is a mordant critique of the present-day cultural and educational scene.