Chapter 17 Summary

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with a security camera capturing a man harassing the doorman at Amy's apartment building—the image too fuzzy to identify, but Amy suspects Josh. This suspicion launches a flashback to the months following her mother's death, when she and Josh had reconnected.

Their renewed friendship initially feels comfortable: Josh arrives with miniature cupcakes, they watch old episodes of The Honeymooners, and they visit the Cloisters in upper Manhattan, where Josh introduces Amy to the Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries. The final tapestry—the unicorn in captivity, encircled by a fence too low to actually imprison it—strikes Amy as a metaphor for something she can't yet name. They sit silently in the medieval garden, looking at the Hudson, like an old married couple who've run out of things to say.

But Josh's behavior grows increasingly erratic. He leaves before Chinese takeout arrives, borrows a hundred dollars and runs off, and becomes obsessed with a book project: a secondhand copy of Hesse's Siddhartha that once belonged to Allen Ginsberg, filled with the poet's doodles and marginalia. When Amy isn't immediately enthusiastic, Josh dismisses the idea.

Josh's father is turning sixty, and his mother has planned a surprise party at the Jersey shore. Josh asks Amy to rent a car for him; she offers to drive and attend with him, but he insists on going alone, citing unfinished business. He returns the car on time, but a week later Amy receives a toll violation from near Atlantic City. Josh admits he went to the casinos instead of his father's party. Amy decides she won't lend him money anymore.

The confrontation comes when Josh steps out from behind the coffee truck outside Amy's office building, filthy and wearing a baseball cap. He admits to meth addiction—love at first sight, he says—and describes losing his job, being kicked out by Ellen, squatting in an East Village tenement, and joining other addicts in Tompkins Square Park. He's wearing duct-taped shoes, has pawned his earring, and speaks of seeing his sister on the street who pretended not to recognize him. He sobs and says he wants to kill himself.

Amy arranges rehab in Pennsylvania. On the way, they get married in a tiny church—a hundred dollars for the ceremony, performed by a teenager in a Mötley Crüe T-shirt—because Josh doesn't have insurance and marriage is the only way to get him covered. During the drive, Josh needs restroom stops every forty minutes; Amy later realizes he was snorting meth in the roadside bathrooms. At rehab, staff confiscate packets of meth from his bag. The social worker says detox will take a week or two before Amy can visit.

Back home, Amy finds a small baggie of meth in her bathroom and flushes it. She reads Ollie's psychiatric file from The Place, which Sid had given her. Dr. Simon's assessment describes Ollie as oppositional, impulsive, lacking remorse, and treatment resistant, with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Dr. Lucie's notes, by contrast, describe Ollie's flirtatious behavior toward him and diagnose Bipolar Type I, noting she's a rapid cycler who fluctuates between highs and lows within hours. Dr. Lucie believed Ollie could lead a productive life with ongoing therapy and lithium.

At work, Amy learns that her assistant Fiona has filed a complaint, saying Amy was rude, dismissive, and mean—that she never acknowledged Fiona's efforts covering Amy's work during her mother's illness. Dennis Bowman, the HR director, informs Amy that the complaint goes in her file and that counseling is mandatory.

On a Saturday morning, Amy receives a call from a patient relations officer: her husband has died. She initially thinks of Marc, then realizes he means Josh. The autopsy shows both heroin and methamphetamine in his body. Amy calls Josh's parents to handle the arrangements. His mother invites her to the funeral, but Amy doesn't go. She can't face Josh's father, who she believes humiliated and diminished his son throughout his life.

Key Events

Amy suspects Josh after security footage shows a man harassing her doorman
Amy and Josh reconnect after her mother's death; they visit the Cloisters and view the unicorn tapestries
Josh skips his father's birthday party to gamble in Atlantic City
Josh confronts Amy near the coffee truck and admits to meth addiction and homelessness
Amy marries Josh en route to a Pennsylvania rehab so he can be covered by her insurance
Josh is caught snorting meth in roadside bathrooms during the drive
Amy finds and flushes a baggie of meth in her bathroom
Amy reads Ollie's psychiatric file, revealing conflicting diagnoses from Dr. Simon and Dr. Lucie
Fiona files a workplace complaint against Amy; mandatory counseling is ordered
Amy learns Josh has died; the autopsy shows heroin and methamphetamine
Amy skips Josh's funeral

Character Development

Amy reaches a new low in this chapter. Her loneliness after her mother's death makes her vulnerable to Josh's reappearance, and her pattern of enabling—renting the car, lending money, marrying him for insurance—shows how far she'll go to rescue someone. Yet she also demonstrates a hard-won clarity: she recognizes that Josh was looking for his next fix, not help, and she flushes the meth she finds. Her grief for her mother remains raw; she still reaches for the phone to call her.

Josh is revealed in full tragic dimension. His charm and performative flair—the fedora, the Brando impersonation, the Russian accent—are shown to be a mask over profound self-destruction. His admission that he's a shit for skipping his father's party, and his terror at the rehab intake, humanize him even as his addiction destroys him.

Ollie is illuminated through the psychiatric file, though the conflicting diagnoses raise more questions than answers. Dr. Simon's cold, judgmental assessment contrasts sharply with Dr. Lucie's more nuanced view of her as funny, observant, and intelligent. Amy wonders what Ollie's life might have been had she followed Dr. Lucie's recommendation.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The unicorn in captivity is the chapter's central symbol. The tapestry's fence is too low to imprison the unicorn, yet it remains—bound by its own nature. This mirrors Josh's addiction: the cage is of his own making, and no external barrier can hold him.

Marriage as transaction — Amy marries Josh purely for insurance coverage, a stark inversion of romantic union. The ceremony in a tiny church performed by a teenager in a Mötley Crüe T-shirt underscores the absurdity.

Clinical language vs. human experience — The psychiatric file reduces Ollie to a list of symptoms and diagnoses. Dr. Simon's borderline personality disorder and Dr. Lucie's Bipolar Type I contradict each other, showing how the clinical lens can obscure rather than illuminate.

Codependency and enabling — Amy's pattern of rescuing Josh—money, car, marriage, rehab—mirrors the family dynamics she grew up with.

New York as Darwinian struggle — The breakfast scene at Sarabeth's, where Amy is pressured to give up her table, and her reflection on the city's chutes and ladders reinforce the theme of isolation.

Why This Chapter Matters

This is a pivotal chapter in Amy's arc. It brings Josh's story to its tragic conclusion, revealing the full cost of her attempts to save him. It also deepens the parallel between Josh and Ollie—two people Amy has tried and failed to rescue—and the psychiatric file provides crucial context for understanding Ollie's diagnosis and treatment. The workplace complaint and mandatory counseling mark a turning point in Amy's professional life, forcing her to confront how her grief has affected others. The chapter ends with Amy's refusal to attend Josh's funeral, a quiet act of self-preservation that suggests she may finally be learning to set boundaries.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Amy marry Josh, and what does this decision reveal about her character?

Amy marries Josh so he can be covered by her insurance for rehab. The marriage is purely transactional—a hundred-dollar ceremony in a tiny church. This decision reveals Amy's deep-seated pattern of enabling and rescuing, even at great personal cost. She knows the plan is dicey, bordering on perilous, yet she proceeds, driven by a combination of guilt, loyalty, and the inability to watch someone she cares about destroy themselves.

2. How do the conflicting diagnoses of Dr. Simon and Dr. Lucie illuminate the difficulty of treating Ollie?

Dr. Simon diagnoses Ollie with borderline personality disorder and labels her treatment resistant, while Dr. Lucie diagnoses Bipolar Type I and describes her as a rapid cycler whose moods can shift within hours. The contradiction suggests that Ollie's condition was complex and that the clinical framework itself may have been inadequate. Amy's reflection on what Ollie's life might have been had she followed Dr. Lucie's recommendation highlights the role of chance and choice in mental health outcomes.

3. What does the unicorn tapestry symbolize in this chapter?

The unicorn in captivity—encircled by a fence too low to actually imprison it—symbolizes Josh's addiction. He is bound not by external constraints but by his own nature, his mythical affliction. The image also resonates with Amy's own entrapment in patterns of codependency and grief. The fact that Amy and Josh sit silently before the tapestry, like an old married couple, foreshadows the strange marriage that will follow.