An editor presents an unfinished autobiographical fragment assembled from the papers of Peter Waring, tracing his early life, friendships, and the growth of a highly refined, one-sided aesthetic sensibility. The narrative sketches his rise to authority within a narrow field of art criticism, the cooling of intimate relationships, and editorial choices to alter names and omit a few pages. Scattered later notes imply restless wanderings, entanglement with questionable occult experimenters, and circumstances that leave his death mysterious.