Plot summary

Twenty-nine year old New Yorker Adam Raki suffers from Asperger syndrome, he who rambles on topics he knows when he gets excited or nervous, which is often. His father was his protector, until he passed away six weeks ago, leaving his father's friend, Harlan, as the only person who looks after him now. An electronics and astronomy buff, Adam has just been fired from his job - a job his father got for him - working in the electronics section of a toy company due to Adam not understanding the need to reduce costs in the products as opposed to his own goal of making the best product he can. Changes are overwhelming for Adam, the issue of the estate lawyer suggesting he move from his and his father's large apartment, which has not been paid off, especially traumatic, in combination with all else going on. Into Adam's life comes Beth Buchwald, an elementary school teacher and aspiring children's book writer who moves into the apartment above his. As she is just coming out of a destructive relationship, she finds Adam's somewhat awkward approach to the world intriguing and refreshing. When she finds out that his behavior is a manifestation of Asperger's, she has gotten to a point of wondering if there is a future for the two of them as a couple. What Beth decides to do is based partly on his Asperger's - i.e. if his interest in her is truly romantic or purely his need for someone to be his protector in place of his father - but also partly on her own parents' relationship, and the fact that her father, Marty Buchwald, who she loves, is going through an indictment for his business activities.—Huggo