Point of View

The story is written in first person from the perspective of Paul O'Rourke. He is a dentist with a thriving practice on Park Avenue in New York City. He lives in a duplex in Brooklyn and seems to be a successful, career-oriented man with everything going for him. Paul is, in fact, lonely and searching for something to fulfill him. This loneliness defines him during the first part of this book and the search for the one thing that will bring him happiness takes up all his time and energy. That sets a great deal of the tone for the story with Paul talking about the things that are lacking in his life. An important part of the tone is Paul's fatalistic view of the world. He doesn't see the sense in things such as Connie's tendency to use lotion on her hands and arms...