Arthur Less sits in a hotel lobby with a Russian cosmonaut’s helmet. He is a writer, approaching 50, and does not know that he is late for a literary event. Near him, a young Japanese woman in a brown coat flits between the female guests. Less does not notice her. She is the person who will escort him to the event, though she “believes Arthur Less to be a woman” (9). Having read one of Less’s novels, she was certain the compelling female narrator could only have been written by a woman. Meanwhile, Less continues to stare at a broken clock. He is in New York to interview a famous science fiction author at the literary event. The woman exits the lobby. Less has never developed a hardened edge to the world, and he exists in danger of heartbreak. He has dedicated the past nine years to a younger man. A clock chiming the hour alerts Less to his own lateness. The young woman finally finds him and leads him to the event. He knows why he was asked to host the event: He is desperate enough not to ask to be paid. He has read all of books by the author—H.