Chapter 17, No Place Like Home, Chapter 18, The Pope's End Summary

Murray thinks about his daughter, briefly about his nephew Bootie who is coming, then about Danielle. He sends an email to Danielle proposing that they meet over lunch or drinks to discuss his concerns about Marina, hoping that this might move the relationship along. Murray calls Judy and finds out Bootie has not shared his plans with his mother. Murray thinks of how he escaped Watertown long ago, and the banality it represents. His philosophy is "never an office, never a timetable, never an alarm clock, always a new city, a new person, a new drink, another discovery, always more life, more".

Marina, troubled with her lack of success on the book, wanders about the house, and finds herself in the room now designated for Bootie, who...