Chapters 1-4 Summary

The novel is set in the late 1970s when a television game show called The $20,000 Pyramid, hosted by Dick Clark, was still shown throughout the country weekday mornings. It is this game show that Miranda's mother attempts to become a contestant on.

In chapter one, Miranda compares a postcard that has come from the producers of The $20,000 Pyramid to one of four odd notes she has received over the past few months. One of these notes predicts accurately the date on which Miranda's mother will be asked to appear on the show.

Chapter two shows that Miranda is the daughter of a single woman who works in a law office and dates one of the lawyers. Miranda's mother takes lots of office supplies from the office where she works, leaving Miranda and Richard convinced that she is terribly unhappy with her...