故事发生在上世纪20年代末，默默无闻的文学青年托马斯（裘德·洛 Jude Law 饰）来到了世界文化的中心纽约，他的兜里揣着他撰写的自传体小说，这本小说被一位名叫麦克斯（科林·费斯 Colin Firth 饰）的编辑相中了，要知道，麦克斯可是曾经挖掘出菲兹杰拉德、海明威等大文豪的伯乐。 　　在对小说进行了大刀阔斧的改动之后，文本最终顺利出版，被取名《天使，望故乡》，小说一经出版，瞬间就点燃了文学界的热情，托马斯也一跃成为了圈内炙手可热的新星。之后，托马斯开始和麦克斯合作打造下一部作品，在此过程中，两人越发亲密的关系让托马斯的女友艾琳（妮可·基德曼 Nicole Kidman 饰）心中亮起了警灯。When, one day of 1929, writer Thomas Wolfe, decided to keep the appointment made by Max Perkins, editor at Scribner's, he had no illusions: his manuscript would be turned down as had invariably been the case. But, to his happy amazement, his novel, which was to become "Look Homeward, Angel", was accepted for publication. The only trouble was that it was overlong (300 pages) and had to be reduced. Although reluctant to see his poetic prose trimmed, Wolfe agreed and helped by Perkins, who had become a true friend, with the result that it instantly became a favorite with the critics and best seller. Success was even greater in 1935 when "Of Time end the River" appeared, but the fight for reducing Wolfe's logorrheic written expression had been even longer, with 5,000 pages, Perkins managed to cut 90,000 words from the book, and bitter ultimately taking its toll, the relationships between the two men gradually deteriorating. Wolfe did not feel grateful to Perkins any longer but had started resenting him for owing his success to him.