Thane Furrows, an extremely cynical but unintentionally hilarious children's book writer, wakes up one morning and begins another day of complaining to himself because pretty much everyone and everything irritates him. The day, however, proves to be far from normal when Thane begins to receive strange phone calls, letters, and voices in his head, all indicating that something will happen at 8 o'clock. Thane rants and raves about the things that irritate him throughout the day, as the clock ticks closer and closer to his fate.