The plot of The Parsley Eater takes place in the latter part of the twentieth century, before the advent of the internet and cell phones. It is the account of one year in the life of Fred Dobritzhofer, a.k.a. the Parsley Eater, who is employed by an avant-garde college. He is in his early thirties, and his mother fears that he will be too old to provide her with grandchildren, so she begins a campaign to have him marry a nubile young woman. During the course of the year, he endures several misadventures with women, including contact with the leader of a feminist commune.
