Eddie Delano is an underachieving, recalcitrant young man desperate to avoid life's absurdities and cursed to experience them in total. His sidesplitting quest begins in war-torn Vietnam but moves quickly to rural California and a circus-like college campus filled with oddball professors, rabid women's libbers and misguided leaders of the social revolution. His helpers and guides include the ultimate con man, a stoned-out hippie, and the wicked woman of his dark desires. Despite their shenanigans and the obstacles provided by the comically inept sheriff's detectives and the maniacal vegetarians of Baba Rama, Eddie finds his treasure. Or does he?