- Hey, Kerouac! We’re getting pretty tired of calling this guy "narrator." Can you give us a name already?
- The narrator’s name is Sal. Sal locates a friend named Chad King.
- Chad has become antisocial. He’s not really one of the guys anymore – the guys being Sal, Dean, and Carlo.
- There’s a war of factions! One faction is Dean and Carlo. The other faction is way less cool. Sal is monkey in the middle, or at least just in the middle.
- Dean is being ostracized because of his upbringing that included sex, pool halls, stealing cars, pool halls, and a wino father.
- Sal is in Denver, but everything will be OK once he finds Dean.