Summary

The novel begins with a section titled Scenes from a Marriage. An unidentified narrator gives details about Chris, an experimental filmmaker in her late thirties. Chris lives in New York with her husband Sylvère. The couple has dinner with Dick, a cultural critic, that Sylvère knows. Sylvère has recently finished his sabbatical at a cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains. Chris feels stifled by being recognized at Sylvère’s wife and not for her own contributions. When Dick flirts with her at dinner, she likes the attention. Chris finds Dick’s artwork “naïve” (21), but still finds merit in it. They all go to Dick’s house after dinner and talk and drink. Chris and Sylvère stay the night and Chris dreams about Dick. In the morning, they find that Dick has already left and Chris leaves a...