Louise
A Kansas native who was raised by high performing parents with impressive accomplishments. Her mother is a talented, successful musician, and her father is a lawyer. So, Louise grows up hoping to accomplish greatly. Her works very hard to make the most of her life, but on the down low, she experiments with a liberal approach to sexuality. She also finds drugs and alcohol too tempting to resist, and her adult life is complicated and frustrating.
Pepi
This character is introduced to Louise by Marion Davies, and she is the real dance star's fictional niece. Together, Pepi and Louise struggle to make something emotionally rewarding out of their painful, difficult life. Pepi helps to show another side of Louise's life. Together they sometimes stoke each other to more extreme behavior than they have the bravery for alone.
The media
The prose comments about important real-life entertainers in pop media. In a way, this is like an anti-choir, because we see many characters from one point of view. These include Humphrey Bogart, who the narrator dismisses as talentless. Not all people get such a critical treatment: W.C. Fields is treated as a smart and talented person.
