I wouldn't suggest this as your first intro to IM. The protag Hilary is so thouroughly unlikeable and selfcentered as he lurches thru life messing up everyone else's lives. But that's what makes this one of her funniest books - even as major characters die in car wrecks, suicide, exposure. More loneliness and isolation than typical for IM's little world of govt employees (who seem to do no real work), academic/political types, and regular dinner dates writ in stone. She must have had fun writing this one as she keeps pulling the rug out from under everyone's feet. The message: don't make plans.