Praised by critics but shunned by the book-buying public, author Kari Hotakainen is asked by his publisher to write a self-revelatory diary of his early years as a writer. Desperate attempts to find inspiration to write this hoped-for best-seller throw Hotakainen into the world of fast sports cars. A disagreement over the ownership of a certain Alfa Romeo 75 Twin Spark between a used car salesman, an unemployed roughneck and a writer desperately seeking fame finds resolution is a police chase broadcast live on Finnish television from the motorway; the last bastion of real men in their overly-powerful cars. The story binds together the writer's pseudo-diaries and the reality of traditional Finnish men and society.