In 1924 New York, Lil (short for Lillian) Moore, an artist, and Leon
Shaffer, an accountant, narrate this Jazz Age story of triangular love,
art and its future, willing and unwilling sacrifices, heroes and
heroines, dreams, visions and illusions, music, insanity, insomnia, fame
and the lack of it, and how each era is similar and different from our
own. Lil's patrons, Mr. and Mrs. Becker, have interesting, themed
parties at their country home. Their lion, Herbert, is wise and a good
companion. Alice Thompson, a talented visual artist, and George Holman,
an attractive older man and owner of the 191 Gallery, are loosely based
on Georgia O'Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz. Marco, a piano player, and
Izzy, an African American singer, are also members of the Bohemian
group. Lil's desires and needs, as well as Leon's attraction to her,
form the plot, which includes philosophical discussions at a Chinese
restaurant Round Table, a women's art exhibition at George's gallery, a
beauty contest, Lil's wish to act in moving pictures, a visit to a
museum to see King Tut, and swimming in a lake. The novel is studded
with historical figures and other characters, including F. Scott and
Zelda Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, a Freudian analyst, gangsters,
absurdist artists and art lovers, and Mary Beach, a 191 Gallery
assistant with her daughter, a long, white scar, and a criminal husband.
1920s slang, the experience of art creation, psychiatric notes,
newspaper advertisements, headlines, articles, reviews of popular
cultural events, and current events like the Leopold's and
