Chapters 17-22 Summary

Henry quits and heads for New York. At Times Square, people swarm from the subways like insects, pushing and elbowing him to Third Avenue, where he finds a vacancy. The old Jewish manager takes him to her husband's shop to try on a used suit that Henry cannot afford. When he tries on the suit, both jacket and pants split. Henry goes on a two-day drunk, moves to Greenwich Village, and is refused service in a writers' bar O. Henry is said to have frequented.

The store looks deserted but has a Help Wanted sign. Two old guys hand Henry an armful of cardboard posters and a metal instrument that looks like a can opener. One jumps up on the subway seats and rips out old posters. Henry cannot budge them and bloodies his hands. Putting in new posters takes forever...