Otto

Otto is the main character of the story. In the narrative present, Otto is middle-aged and living with his life partner, William, in a brownstone. While Otto works as a lawyer, William tends to their house and garden. Though Otto's life is peaceful and William is loving and gracious, Otto is perpetually dissatisfied and miserable. At the story's start, Otto is lamenting his decision to accept his sister Corinne's invitation to Thanksgiving dinner. The impending holiday causes Otto an increasing amount of internal turmoil.

In the latter years of his life, he sees little need in preserving his sibling relationships. Though his sisters and brother, Corinne, Sharon, and Martin, shaped the dimensions of his childhood world and consciousness, maintaining these connections feels irrelevant to Otto. He would rather be alone with William, anticipating his coming death, than digging up the complicated dynamics of the past.

Despite his bad...