Chapter 6 Summary

1994. Gogol moves to New York City after college to attend a graduate program in architecture at Columbia, despite his parents' desire he attend a similar program at MIT. Gogol is now an apprentice in a large architecture firm. One night a friend from the firm takes Gogol to a party at someone's home. There, Gogol meets a girl named Maxine with whom he has a nice conversation. Early the next morning, Maxine calls Gogol and invites him to dinner at her parents' home. Gogol agrees, amused to be pursued by a girl rather than the other way around. When Gogol arrives at the Ratliff home, he finds it to be a Greek Revival, a piece of architecture he deeply admires. Gogol meets both of Maxine's parents and likes how normal they are, how different from his own parents.

Gogol finds himself quickly accepted...