As a child, Elizabeth Leopold finds Nelson Rodker, the son of family friends, hopelessly nerdy and annoyingly obsequious to adults.
Elizabeth and her best friend, Holly, despise Nelson for the very virtues that make their upper-class parents admire him while despairing of his older brother, James, expelled from his fourth school and perpetually in trouble.
On finding a new scarf in her handbag, Elizabeth remarks to Roy that her mom "is like a pickpocket in reverse--she slips expensive things into my bag".
Elizabeth is promoted to associate editor for French literature at a Manhattan publishing house, but the self-absorbed Roy is oblivious to her career.
Confused by conflicting emotions, Elizabeth defiantly wears a provocative red dress to the Rodker’s Christmas party, attracting the disreputable James.
James sweeps her away to an intimate bar, disillusioning her by getting drunk, whining, and rambling on about his stagnant poetic aspirations, hostility to society, and resentment of his parents and his “whimpy” brother, of whom he is jealous.
Elizabeth realizes that by shrewdly playing along to gain the adults’ trust, Nelson had achieved independence while she and James had been stuck in counterproductive defiance, not truly disengaging.
[3] Walter Goodman of The New York Times commended the "sleekly sleazy" portrayal of Nelson's naughty brother, James (D. W. Moffett),[4] while calling Elizabeth's parents' characters "grossly caricatured".
Don Shirley of the Los Angeles Times found Elizabeth's change of heart to be unrealistic, claiming she would throw Nelson back into the dating pool in real life.