Young Danilo Prozor and his mother arrive in Chicago, Illinois, where Danilo meets his father, a steel worker who emigrated from Yugoslavia when Danilo was an infant. Years later, on his way to his high school’s senior class concert, Danilo greets his friends Tom Donaldson and David Levine, and the three teenage musicians go to Georgia Miles’s home to serenade their mutual crush. Georgia starts dancing and later, during the concert, she cannot sit still onstage. As the boys walk her home, Georgia claims to be have been born at the moment dancer Isadora Duncan died. Danilo points out that Duncan died in 1926, but Georgia insists it took fifteen years for Duncan’s soul to find Georgia. As they ponder their futures, David laments that his father wants him to take over the family’s mortician business. To save David from the “evil of middle class,” Georgia orders him to chant “Isadora Duncan,” but he does not know who Duncan was. As Georgia educates David, Danilo corrects her misinformation and she wonders how Danilo can write poems to her yet still cling to facts. She recites her favorite poem written by Danilo, then claims he will be a famous poet, as she will be a famous dancer, and the four friends will have wonderful futures. Danilo arrives home as his father leaves for work. The men argue because Danilo wants to attend college, while Mr. Prozor insists Danilo’s dreams denigrate his father’s working class struggles. Another night, as the four friends walk in the park, Georgia flirts with the boys and everyone starts wrestling. When Georgia’s shirt falls open, she is unconcerned, but Danilo is embarrassed and closes her blouse. During winter, David drives a new car and Georgia wonders if he agreed to go into his father’s funeral business in exchange for the car. Then she announces that she will not be a virgin much longer. That night, she knocks on Danilo’s bedroom window and wants to make love, but Danilo refuses. He explains that his father sleeps in the next room and losing their virginity is a big step, but she is angry and promises that he will be sorry. The next day, the senior class assembles for “Career Day 1961.” Jack Bellknap, representing the steel industry, lectures that America was built by his business, but Danilo objects, yelling that high school should encourage students to seek their destinies, not be an employment agency. As Danilo is guided away, Georgia leads the other students in singing the musical refrain, “Hit the road, Jack,” to Bellknap. That night, Mr. Prozor hits Danilo, claiming his son’s actions humiliated the family, and when Danilo refuses to fight back, Mr. Prozor hits him again. Later, at a senior class beach party, Tom and Georgia stroll into the dunes; Danilo follows and watches them make love. Danilo returns to the beach and is pushed aside as he tries to stop a thuggish senior named Gergley and his friends from chasing two black students. In the struggle, David is knocked down and insulted for being Jewish. That night, Danilo packs his belongings, including a picture of Georgia. Before leaving town, he stops at Georgia’s house, but she is not home, so he asks her neighbor, Mrs. Zoldos, to say goodbye for him. Two years later, in his Northwestern University dormitory, Danilo’s crippled roommate, Louie Carnahan, complains about Danilo’s incessant playing of the song Georgia On My Mind. Later, Danilo and Louie represent Northwestern on a televised college trivia show. Mrs. Prozor, David, and Tom watch the program at Georgia’s home. Georgia is excited when Danilo answers a question by reciting the poem he wrote for Georgia in high school, instead of the correct answer. On Halloween, Danilo worries about the future and investigates graduate schools as Louie confesses his fear of dying without making love to a woman. Louie buys a car and drives Danilo to Georgia’s wedding, and they arrive as Georgia leaves the church with Tom and David. Georgia is pregnant with Tom’s child, so Danilo assumes she married Tom, but David is the groom. Tom was not ready for marriage and is about to leave for military service in Vietnam, while David is now a mortician in his family’s business. Danilo wonders why Georgia did not ask to marry him, but she claims he had his chance. Later, Georgia gives birth to a son, Isador Duncan Levine. Elsewhere, Danilo falls in love with Louie’s sister, Adrienne Carnahan. Danilo and Mr. Carnahan, however, do not like each other, and Mr. Carnahan is unhappy about the impending marriage. During a visit to the Carnahan’s mansion, Danilo sees Mr. Carnahan enter Adrienne’s bedroom and close the door. Later, Danilo asks for his father’s blessing, but Mr. Prozor thinks his son is marrying Adrienne for her wealth. He agrees to attend the wedding but will not give his blessing. When Danilo visits David and meets baby Isador, Georgia is gone. David is accustomed to Georgia’s disappearances and knows she will return eventually. Meanwhile, Georgia arrives at Danilo’s dormitory room and is surprised to learn he is in Chicago. Telling Louie that she is leaving for New York, Georgia undresses and says she has a Christmas present for him. Later, Danilo returns to campus as Louie is wheeled into an ambulance while singing Georgia On My Mind. In the spring, when Danilo arrives at the Carnahan mansion for the wedding, he sees Adrienne run from her bedroom, where her father is half-dressed. At the wedding reception, Mr. Carnahan shoots and kills Adrienne, shoots Danilo in the head, then commits suicide. Danilo is wounded in one eye, but survives. Georgia, who had been present at the wedding, tries to visit him in the hospital, but he turns away from her. Later, Danilo visits Mrs. Carnahan and learns that Louie died in September, while Danilo was hospitalized. During the next summer, Danilo sees Georgia dancing on the street and she takes him to her apartment. He admits he loves her, but she is not ready to settle down. Danilo leaves New York, finds work in a Pennsylvania steel mill, and dates a nurse, Vera. Elsewhere, Georgia gets involved in drugs and the nightclub scene until her friend, Lola, kills herself in a drug-induced haze. Upset, Georgia finds Danilo in Pennsylvania and they make love. He takes the day off work to be with her, but they argue when she wants to return to the city, alone. After she is gone, Danilo packs his belongings and leaves Pennsylvania. In East Chicago, Danilo meets David and Tom, who is now a Chicago steel worker with a Vietnamese wife and two daughters. Georgia arrives with Isador, and Danilo informs her that he has taken a teaching position far away from her so that he can find peace. She admits that she wanted to love Tom, David, and Danilo simultaneously, but she only loves Danilo. Later, Danilo says goodbye to his parents as they board a ship to Yugoslavia. Danilo wishes his father could be happy and Mr. Prozor acknowledges that he smiled when Danilo was born, then starts to laugh. Later, the four friends and their families gather on a beach as Danilo, Georgia, and Isador prepare to head south for Danilo’s teaching position, which Georgia promises is the first of many adventures to come.