berkeley boy is the narrative of a young man, Giacomo, who attends the University of California-Berkeley in hopes of fulfilling his dream of becoming a world-renowned physicist and told from the perspective of Giacomo as if he has trapped you some years later in a bar and tricked you into listening to his stories about his college years. Giacomo longed to escape his religious upbringing for what he perceived to be a free-thinking utopia. Lonely and distraught in a new place, he eventually finds himself among a wide array of bizarre friends and eccentric foes who impart on him greater life lessons than any professor could. His roommate, Camila, arrives as a straight-edge goodie-two-shoes who doesn't do her laundry and is obsessed with Ultimate Frisbee. Captain is a wannabe real estate agent from Idaho that parrots corporate slogans and is kind as an angel. Toshan is a Marxist whose parents want nothing more than for him to become a doctor. Alongside a satirical portrayal of 2010s Americana and the transformation of Berkeley into a training ground for techies and yuppies, Giacomo and company—most of whom are fellow physicists—bring the mysterious city and the surrounding Bay Area to life as they navigate their new surroundings and interpersonal relationships, with the latter often complicated by alcohol, drugs, and unrequited feelings.