Summary

Chapter 1

Billy Shine watches the bleary winter afternoon move toward night through his sliding glass door in Los Angeles. Billy speaks to himself and sees that the little girl is still sitting on his front steps. He resolves to see what she wants. Billy is agoraphobic. This means that he is terrified of the outside world. As such, he has not left his apartment for twelve years. The girl does not seem to be more than nine or ten, and she looks depressed. Billy introduces himself. The girl introduces herself as Grace. Billy explains his real name is Donald Feldman. However, since he was once in show business, he needed a good stage name. He explains that he wasn’t cut out for dancing, or for life. He tells Grace she should go inside because it is getting dark. She reluctantly goes down...