Summary

One weekend a friend loans the protagonist an old Ford Pinto to drive for fun. The car is in terrible condition, and the protagonist quickly loses his rather idolatrous view of cars. One day in October, about one year after the protagonist moved to Chicago, he finally discovers what Elminides does for a living: she is a second-grade teacher at a Greek Orthodox School. He learns this when passing the school one day and seeing Elminides there. She says that she is 39 years old and began teaching when she was 30. Elminides speaks passionately about her work, and then the protagonist speaks passionately about his own work as a journalist. The protagonist continues to keep in touch with the young woman he met on the train. She is originally from Wyoming, but she has graduated from college and now lives in Boston. He decides to...