Centers on a week in the beleaguered life of Eleanor Mann, housewife and mother, who lives with her religious fanatic husband and three sons; the oldest a pimp and dope pusher; the middle son a flagrant homosexual; and the youngest the victim of a threshing machine accident which has deprived him of his manhood. The family becomes embroiled in a plot to assassinate the Pope, who is coming to New Jersey to bless the air, and with the help of a radical black nun succeeds in its purpose—with unexpectedly hilarious results.