The story begins on Christmas eve. Mark Cohen and Roger Davis live in an industrial loft in the East Village. Their landlord and ex-roomate, Benny, has
turned off their heat and wants to collect their rent. Only problem is Mark and Roger can't pay it. When Benny married "Alison Gray, of the West Port Grays" and bought the building he was supposed to let Mark and Roger live there, but now he wants to evict them all if they don't pay last years rent so that he can build a cyber studio.
As the story unfolds we meet the rest of the chracters:
Anarchist Tom Collins, or just "Collins," also used to be Mark and Roger's roomate. He teaches "computer age technology" at NYU and is coming back home for the holidays. On his way up to the loft, Collins is mugged. His coat is stolen, he is beaten up pretty badly, and we learn he has AIDS. Collins is saved by an "Angel" -- Angel Dumott Shunard, a drag queen who also has AIDS.
Mark and Roger's downstairs neighbor is a drug-addicted, S&M dancer named Mimi.
Maureen Johnson is putting on a performance piece in protest of Benny evicting the homeless from the lot. Maureen is Mark's ex-girlfriend. She dumped him for a lawyer named Joanne.
Benny offers Mark and Roger a deal -- convince Maureen to cancel her protest and they won't be evicted. The protest goes on anyway and a riot breaks out. In light of everything that is happening around them, Mark, Roger, Angel, Collins, Mimi, Maureen, and Joanne are determined to live their lives to the
fullest. They celebrate love, happiness, and life at the life cafe.
The new year brings countless break ups for Maureen and Joanne, more fights between Roger and Mimi over her drug use, and a new job for Mark, while Angel is slowly dieing. After an intense argument at his funeral and Mimi's near death, the idea of "No day but today" rings true even more than ever and their family is brought back together.
