In his formative years, the narrator was bequeathed a piece of wisdom from his father, a testament to the virtue of withholding judgment due to the uneven distribution of life's basic courtesies. This philosophy of empathy and reserve has permitted him an intimate glimpse into the lives of various individuals, yet it has also made him a magnet for tedious company. The protagonist, bearing an Ivy League education and a legacy of affluence in a Midwestern city, returns from the Great War to seek fortune in the bond business of the vibrant East. Finding residence in a quaint and tired bungalow of a Long Island suburb, he commences his narrative by recounting the magnetism and tragedy of a certain neighbor—a man of hope and illusive glamour, untarnished by the skepticism that grips the narrator's view of the world. An exploration of dreams and disillusionment, the narrative unfurls among the social elite, featuring striking land formations and a summer of discovery starting anew under the hopeful veneer of the Jazz Age.
