Blow Summary

"Blow" is narrated from a first-person point of view by a reliable, unnamed narrator. The narrator's age is indeterminate, but she is female, probably in her mid to late twenties. The primary timeline covers a single afternoon and is narrated several weeks or months after the events transpire.

Bill, a long-time friend of the narrator, calls and receives permission to visit. He arrives at the narrator's apartment within minutes. The narrator shares the apartment with a roommate, who is at work for the day and does not appear in the story. The narrator is a writer, apparently writing children's books, who works out of her apartment. Bill, agitated, twitchy, and nervous, discloses that he has broken up with Helen and that he has not slept for several days, instead relying on regular doses of cocaine to remain awake. Bill wants to kill time...