The one-eyed Ernest Herz, exhausted from his excessive love life, has taken on the position of head librarian at the W. monastery and is turning his attention to his equally great passion – the old book. The apartment he occupies in the monastery belonged to his predecessor, Father Mrozek, who committed suicide in a curious manner. Ernest Herz must confront the fact that his vision of a modern library faces resistance in the conservative clerical society of the monastery, that something seems to be wrong with his Telefunken radio since it only receives Radio Gabriel, and that the suicide of his predecessor raises numerous questions. One day, the librarian discovers a copy of the medieval bestseller Dialogus maracolum hidden away. The book is missing its cover, and the librarian's curiosity is piqued.