Bologna, 1954. Taddeo, a young man of 18 whom everyone calls Kid, dreams of becoming one of the regulars of the mythical Margherita Café, located under the portico across from his family's home. Through a ploy, he manages to get work as the chauffeur for Al, the neighborhood's most glamorous and mysterious resident. Having been taken under Al's wing, Taddeo gets to witness the adventures of Bep, who is in love with Marcella the entraineuse; the trials and tribulations of Gian, an aspiring singer and the victim of a horrible practical joke; the crazy behavior of Manuelo, a small-time robber with a sex phobia; the meanness of Zanchi, inventor of the elastic necktie; and the bizarre manias of Sarti, a ballroom dancing champion who wears his tux day and night. And Taddeo's home life is no less out of the ordinary, considering his mother is being led on by the family physician while his grandfather has fallen head over heels for a well-built piano teacher.

When her social-climbing father is relocated from a one-horse town to his native Rome, 12-year-old Caterina enrolls in his old school, finding herself adrift in an environment where eighth-graders form friendships based on social class and their parents' political affiliations.

Inside Bar Sport, a bar on the outskirts of Bologna managed by the histrionic Onassis, the adventures of regulars and casual patrons unfold. Searching for a pinball machine or a payphone, they encounter the omnipresent "technician," so called for his passion for soccer and always ready to chat or moderate other people's discussions. Thus, the ordeals of the handyman Bovinelli as he deals with the disasters at Muzzi's house, the diary of a provincial playboy's conquests, the sex life of the fiery prostitute Elvira, the search for a good restaurant during a dazed motorcycle trip with Cocosecco, or a trip to see Bologna play with the lawyer Della Lana become epic tales of tragicomic exploits.

This tense thriller begins in the office of Claudia, a psychoanalyst whose sister was killed in a terrorist attack. Her newest client is Tancredi. He says that he is a journalist and that he suffers from having witnessed numerous atrocities in Bosnia. The events he describes sound just like those of Brescia, and Claudia, who still grieves for her sister, begins to wonder if Tancredi is telling the truth. Her investigation proves that he is lying, but it leads her to wonder why he has chosen her as his psychoanalyst. After talking to her husband, Claudia visits her old mentor who suggests she continue working with Tancredi but warns her not to call in the police. After that the story frequently jumps to 1998. By then Claudia and her newborn baby have become part of the witness protection program and she is preparing to testify against those involved in covering up government-sponsored terrorist activity.

Luca is a famous actor working on his new film as both its star and director. One day he gets extremely sick and, while at the hospital, rethinks his life.

After spending most of his life being defeated by his rival Ottone, meek Biagio tries to commit suicide – but in the hereafter he's offered a chance to come back to life for a week as Dennis, Ottone's trusted business partner.

Pietro decides to grant the wish of an elderly lady he calls Grandma and takes her out of the nursing home where she lives to take her to the seaside. It is the beginning of a road trip and an unexpected friendship. From Italy to Spain, passing through France, to Almería, a city Anna has always wanted to see, an exciting and unexpected journey will bind the two protagonists together.

An acclaimed novelist struggles to write an analysis of love in one of three stories, each set in a different city, that detail the beginning, middle and end of a relationship.