Summary

Chapter 22 – Rich rides his bike through town to get to the fundraiser, at the large and expensive home of a billionaire mogul and his timid male partner. The first thing he notices is the poster advertising the fundraiser, on which is one of his drawings – of a young woman on a beach, seemingly thinking about writing. As the evening progresses, Rich gets progressively drunker, having conversations with his fellow instructors, with the mogul (whose rough-edged belligerence reminds Rich of his poor and unproductive father), and with the partner (whose concern about his and the mogul’s kids reminds Rich of his own). The narrative is interrupted by a drawing of three people at a party, their facial expressions and postures somewhat drunkenly exaggerated. Then, during a messy dinner of lobsters, Rich bitterly (and drunkenly) contemplates what he increasingly sees as the somewhat sick, showy...