Obselidia is the story of George, a lonely librarian and the last door-to-door encyclopedia salesman in the world. Troubled by the increasing rate at which things become replaced, he travels around southern California collecting entries for his own encyclopedia of obsolete things.

Along the way, George meets Sophie, a fleeting cinema projectionist who finds comfort in impermanence. She instructs George to title his collection, The Obselida, as it will sell better. Together, they travel to Death Valley to interview Lewis Fordham, a renowned climatologist and predictor of global warming. He warns that the time for action has passed and humans should instead enjoy the planet while it lasts. In essence, Earth is becoming obsolete.

George and Sophie return to Los Angeles after Lewis falls victim to a heart attack and dies. A misunderstanding of their relationship helps George and Sophie realize their enthusiasm for the obsolete and the transient, respectively, is more fear of losing that which they hold dear than anything else. In the end, they find the answer to the question: “If the world were to end tomorrow, how would you live today?”