Leo has been living with his mother for a long time—the entire 28 years of his life. He is a curious person who deals with a tremendous amount of existential boredom, and although in his family, that makes him an outsider, he begins to expand past his comfort zone. At a coffee shop, he meets new people, beatniks and artists, and he starts hanging out with them as they bring him out of his shell.
Among his new friends is Mardou Fox. In elaborate prose, Leo falls in love with her, realizing that her personality, her appearance, and her attitude are exactly what he most craves in people—they are qualities he didn't know a person could have in such quantity. He wants to be with her, but it's very complicated, as he isn't sure how exactly to tell her. Meanwhile, Roxanne notices that as he pursues Mardou, he has forgotten about writing, and she tries to change his mind.
Eventually, Leo conquers his obstacles, and he tells Mardou how he feels. She is impressed. They end up sleeping together, and eventually, Mardou ends up pregnant. Leo contemplates his emotions, trying to understand his experience of the beatniks. In the end, they decide to raise the baby as a family, but the novel ends before we learn whether they succeed or fail as a family.
