David Kepesh

David is the hero of the novel, as well as two previous Roth books: The Breast and The Professor of Desire. He is a liberal, sexually adventurous man of 62, who teaches a class on Practical Criticism at a New York college and sleeps with his former female students. One student, Consuela, interests him more than most, and he finds himself in a serious, tumultuous relationship with her. At first, he is grateful that she even considers him, then paranoid and jealous about his status in her mind: whether she really loves him as she claims, whether she is sleeping with other men, whether she wants to, whether she will eventually leave him for someone her own age.

Ultimately, David gives Consuela an excuse to break up with him, but he carries that loss for years, turning to his friend, George, his long-term mistress, Carolyn, and his piano...