Three college buddies, Marina, Danielle, and Julian, are nearing 30, and their dreams of artistic and intellectual success have not panned out. Their lives increasingly revolve around Marina's wealthy father, Murray, the embodiment of what they are striving to be: talented, witty, and well-heeled. Into the mix come two interlopers, Ludovic and Bootie, both intent on crashing the New York scene, and as the collective ambitions clash, the sparks begin to fly. Claire Messud, in her fourth novel, has skillfully captured a New York social scene caught somewhere between the rarefied elite and the starving artist.