Speaking of social, the new doorman at 840 Fifth Avenue is the novel's true class act, despite his lower-tier background. Kevin Doyle has been forced to take this post because his avocation as a neon artist has yet to generate any sparks. But from the first time he sees Cornelia, the two seem very much on the same wavelength. Will this scrupulous young soul be able to save her and her father from their moneyed illusions? Let's just say that one thing in particular gives Kevin a fighting chance:
His eyes pulled her in, a magnetic force drawing her gently toward him. Something about his gentle corona reminded her of an afternoon in her mother's arms. They had been at the beach when she was nine. The waves rolled over them, deliciously foamy and salty.... She realized that Kevin's corona matched the color of the sky that day. It had the texture of summer, arching over a world that felt the way life always should.But if these lovers are ever to come together, they must first overcome a series of monsters intent on institutionalizing Cornelia and, irony of ironies, electroshocking her into wedlock with Tucker. Chris Gilson, a former adman, is well aware that there are 10 million stories in the naked city. In Crazy for Cornelia, however, he knows that a deft combination of only a few should yield him a rich and varied demographic. --Winnie Wheaton