Summary

The novel opens in New York City. Seth, a Caucasian man in his early twenties, works as an audio engineer, and his hobby is walking around the city with a microphone, recording the sounds of the city. One day, he sees a man playing chess in a park. The man is wearing a hat that obscures most of his face, and he sings a song that begins, “Believe I buy a graveyard of my own” (5). In narration, Seth then exposits upon his past. Seth is highly introverted, but in college, he became friends with Carter Wallace, a charismatic boy from a very wealthy family. Like Seth, Carter is also Caucasian. Carter and Seth were both obsessed with music, and Carter especially liked black musicians of the twentieth century. The narrative then returns to the present. Seth plays the recording of the chess player’s...