What is so special about the long, narrow room in which Enoch Robinson lives in New York?

Really this room is much a part of the story as Enoch is. The room is where artists met to talk, smoke, philosophize , and deconstruct their world. So, it s really what happens in this room that is most striking. The room is a space where Enoch, a farm boy, sits in the corner and soaks up all that is strange and artistic. THe room becomes a personification of the artists themselves.