Summary

As Baker arrives back in Boston after his trip to Montana, he finds that fall is beginning, and is very aware that its beauty is soon going to give way to the miseries of winter. He feels these miseries himself as he isolates in his study, working out the draft of his book. “… I spent my days locked in a spare bedroom in my house, reading about loneliness and thinking about loneliness while engaged in the loneliest activity I know of: writing” (131). He considers following up on several possibilities for further research that his earlier research had suggested, and also several activities he had learned were useful in countering loneliness. These include attempts at establishing a choir, at joining a hockey team, and planning to investigate individuals and communities he believes have successfully combatted loneliness. None of his plans come to fruition. He...