The narrative follows Maria who is at a dinner party with friends and is a cancer survivor. She recently had a mastectomy and has been dealing with sympathy from friends and other challenges. Her good friend Katherine helped her through the illness by teaching her piano. Kat also found a new boyfriend recently, an actor who happened to be in town during the happenings at the dinner party. He comes over and he and Maria share a moment smoking outside. They talk about dinosaurs and it all seems like a vague metaphor. Then the perspective shifts after learning that Kat broke up with the actor, Adrian. The final scene is Adrian performing a speech for his Chicago based end of the world movie. One he doesn’t want to give.
Author
Camille Bordas
Publication
The New Yorker, December 15, 2025
Date Read
December 13, 2025