Clyde Dupee, pronounced 'dupay', much like men of his ilk, wanders through life in a drunken haze: drunk, sober, drunk, sober, two words repeated for a lifetime by men such as Clyde. A jailbird, an abysmal penny-ante burglar; he was certainly not someone the poised and proper Tharon McGee could ever consider appropriate. On work release from prison, Clyde takes time from his welding job to arrange studies for his GED, and Tharon, a former beauty queen, is his counselor. Twice burned and with very high standards, Tharon does not want to see any good in Clyde, but gradually comes to love him despite his flaws. Tharon is the path to sober, sober, sober. When an accident puts him in the hospital, Tharon reaches out to the family that had locked Clyde out years earlier, totally unprepared for the fireworks that ensue as the two prepare for their wedding. Marriage is not bliss for the two though, despite Clyde's charm and Tharon's love. As their family grows, Clyde's demons return, drunk, sober, drunk, sober, threatening to destroy them all.