The bestselling and beloved author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude delivers a searing love letter to the city that has inspired his finest work. Chase Insteadman former child television star has a new role in life—permanent guest on the Upper East Side dinner party circuit where he is consigned to talk about his astronaut fiancée Janice Trumbull who is trapped on a circling Space Station. A chance encounter collides Chase with Perkus Tooth a wily pop culture guru with a vicious conspiratorial streak and the best marijuana in town. Despite their disparate backgrounds and trajectories Chase and Perkus discover they have a lot in common including a cast of friends from all walks of life in Manhattan. Together and separately they attempt to define the indefinable and enter into a quest for the most elusive of things: truth and authenticity in a city where everything has a price.