A teacher at a tony Princeton day school, Louis Ives fancies himself as a gentleman modeled after his heroes in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. But in a comic and strange incident involving a colleague's brassiere, Louis loses his job. Without a lot of money, he heads to New York and finds a cheap room in the dirty and cluttered apartment of Henry Harrison, a failed playwright who dyes his hair with a mascara wand, sneaks into Broadway shows and the opera, and serves as an escort to the rich widows of the Upper East Side. The two men, separated in age by more than 40 years, develop a relationship that is irascible mentor and eager apprentice. But when he's not with his teacher, Louis has fascinations that lead him into the netherworld of Times Square. He develops a secret life there, which he fears will be his undoing and which he desperately wants to keep hidden from Henry.

With early interest from Hollywood and an energetic, well-connected young author, The Extra Man is destined to become an instant classic among lovers of smart comic fiction and adventurous New York stories.