Following the erection of the Berlin wall, special agent Carl Halman is assigned by East German intelligence to move to New York where heโll โsleepโ as a writer until he is called. Using the code-name โApril 23,โ Carl successfully infiltrates the uptown-downtown literary world in 1950s New York. He edits a magazine, follows the Knicks, and marries Melinda, the socialite wife of best-selling jock novelist Hubert Cleaver, Aydenโs hilarious Norman Mailer pastiche. Through Carlโs eyes, we see New York City change from an outpost of Europe to the new capital of an anarchistic, post-ideological world. But then, when Carl least expects it, heโs called.