As it is with the Holy Grail, so is it with love. Whatever we make of love, that is what leads us on. At least it is what leads on Sammy Hecht, the protagonist of the novel. In the beginning, we see Sammy walking bare-chested into the moon-streaked waters of Brighton Beach with a Navajo necklace in his clenched fist. The necklace was to be a votive offering to the wondrous Daisy, the love of his high school and college years. Of a sudden she has become...