Part 1: Marjorie; Chapters 1-3: Marjorie, Prince Charming, George Summary

The reader is introduced to Marjorie Morgenstern in Chapter 1, a seventeen-year old Jewish girl living in the El Dorado, an apartment overlooking Central Park. Her immigrant parents have only recently moved here after many years in the Bronx. At 17, Marjorie is attending the free public college to become a teacher, but, after attending a party at Columbia University, has an epiphany and knows she is now destined for the stage. She is off to horseback ride in the Park with some friends from the previous night's party.

Chapter 2 is consumed by the horseback riding and Marjorie's continued infatuation with Sandy Goldstone, a friend of her date's from the previous evening. After a mishap, in which her horse throws her, Marjorie is carried by Sandy to a cab and then...