Jim Fingal, an intern for a prominent magazine, is given what ought to be an easy assignment by his editor, Emily Penrose: fact-check a 15 page “essay” by renowned writer John D’Agata about the suicide of a teenage boy in Las Vegas. What seems simple soon becomes anything but as Jim dives deeper into the essay, quickly embroiling fact-checker, author, and editor in a debate over where exactly the “truth” lies.