Summary

The novel begins with Charlie Nolan, an investment banker, excitedly showing off his newly acquired parking space to his wife, Nora. The Nolans live in a wealthy enclave of Manhattan's Upper West Side on a dead-end street. Parking spaces in the lot on the street are limited, and thus hard to come by. Nora and Charlie's twin children, Oliver and Rachel, are in their senior years of college, living away from home. The Nolans have a dog called Homer.

Nora reflects on her neighbors, Jack and Sherry Fisk, noting that the former has a dark and angry streak, the Fenstermachers, who are seemingly “perfect” (13), and George Smythe, a busybody who constantly slips notes about property upkeep into his neighbors' mailboxes. Nora refers to the notes as “George-o-Grams” (14). There is a neighborhood handyman named Ricky who does odd jobs for the residents...