Edith Seagrace has come to New York City from a small upstate town to begin her summer internship at Ubu magazine, a last outpost of literary sophistication and style. In all of Manhattan, she knows only one person, her flamboyant roommate, Clarence, and the two have hopes that this summer will be the kickoff of what they call Real Life. But there are others who know about Edith and await her arrival - her eccentric neighbor, who plans to reveal herself as the woman who gave birth to Edith twenty-one years ago; the ailing editor in chief of Ubu, who may or may not know he is Edith's father; and Edith's new boss, a woman who advocated an abortion all those years back to preserve order at the magazine.