Charlie

Charlie is Evan's boyfriend. Described as "independently wealthy [with] an amusing little job in book publishing," Charlie spends his time at home watching football games on a television that gets fuzzy reception and has a ritual of undressing at night in which "he kicks up his leg and flips the underwear in the air and catches it." It is in Charlie' sManhattan apartment that the Halloween party takes places where Zoë meets Earl.

Earl

Earl is the date Evan arranges for Zoë at the Halloween party. He arrives to the party dressed as a naked woman with "large rubber breasts protruding like hams." Earl has recently gone through a divorce, and throughout the evening he attempts to engage Zoë in conversation about love, only to be continually interrupted by her sarcastic quips and vague allusions. Earl is a photographer who worries aloud about the effect...