A narrator reacts skeptically to a newly published intimate biography of a celebrated novelist, arguing that its flattering portrait misses the real person. She reconstructs two hours of overheard conversation and a brief stint as the biographer’s secretary, offering impressions of literary salons, the biographer’s incisive criticism, and a watchful elder relative. The narrative examines how gossip, selective memory, and personal ambition shape public reputation. Through close, often ironic observation it questions whether any public account can fully capture a complicated private life.