Based on the memoirs of Franz Lidz, Unstrung Heroes is the story of Stephen, a young boy in New York during the 1960s who, in an effort to cope with an emotionally distant father and his mother's illness, goes to live with his three wildly eccentric uncles. By moving into the funny, magical and sometimes painful world of his uncles, Stephen grows up and gains self-confidence. Finally, comforted by his uncles' idiosyncratic love, Stephen is able to face the loss of his mother and the emotional turbulence of pre-adolescence.