The narrator explains that “all this happened, more or less” (7). He adds that while the parts of the story about World War II are real, some names have been changed. The narrator decides to write this book about his experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II in Dresden, Germany. He revisits the town with his friend Bernard V. O’Hare who is skeptical about the narrator’s ability to write about their experiences.

O’Hare and the narrator served in the army together as privates. The narrator became a writer, and O’Hare became a district attorney. They reconnect one evening when the narrator drunkenly telephones O’Hare. He has a habit of drinking heavily and then reaching out to old friends. The narrator explains his plan to end his story about Dresden with an account of a fellow soldier named Edgar Derby who was executed for stealing a teapot after the city was firebombed. O’Hare is uncertain about this but trusts the narrator’s experience as a writer. 

The narrator recalls being liberated from a prisoner of war camp. He returned to America, married a young woman, and had children. He attended college and studied anthropology before becoming a writer.