Summary

In “Track,” an unnamed narrator recounts living in New York City with her boyfriend, a much older famous comedian. She was living and “layering make-up on collapsing faces” (153) for a living. She recalls an incident when she was in her twenties in which she tried to commit suicide but failed and spent time in a mental health facility.

The comedian took the narrator out to lavish dinners where she felt uncomfortable around his famous friends. One night, he showed her a recorder that played a laugh track, something he had kept since he was a boy. He used to practice his comedy routine in his parents' basement, playing the laugh track along, a spot of joy in a childhood marred by his mother's mental illness. He said he had never shown the laugh track to anyone else.

The comedian gave the narrator...