Alfred, Lord Tennyson once wrote, "I am a part of all that I have met," a sentiment that becomes more than a poetic fancy for shy scholar Paul Heywood. Arriving in Los Angeles in 2010 to research his favorite children's author, Paul occupies his free time volunteering with an agency that runs errands for aged and ailing members of the LGBTQ community. Among their clients, he meets Robert Simmons, a retired actor who sparks Paul's scholarly curiosity. Quizzing Robert about his past, Paul unleashes a cornucopia of serio-comic tales tracing his journey from a youth enamored with the performing arts to a working actor earning a modest living from commercials and sitcoms; about being a man loving other men in a less receptive time; and the friends and lovers acquired along the way, all of them laced with Robert's quirky, often cantankerous opinions on art and existence. Soon, the simple act of talking and listening reveals the redemptive features of a life Robert considered a failure. It also encourages Paul to loosen his reserve, aiding his quest to unearth the secret of his subject's literary work as well as his attempt to romance local bookstore owner David Farmington, and leads both men to a greater understanding of the meaning behind Tennyson's phrase: the importance of becoming parts of each other, for being in love, and for being alive.