Mary Bellanova's life in the East Village has little direction, a string of temp jobs, a long unfinished collection of short stories, and hazy nights at the local bars. Then her boyfriend, Primo, changes everything. Other guys have abandoned Mary, but Primo chooses the most original route, he drops dead. Left to her own devices, Mary morphs into an urban heroine, boldly navigating city life, searching for a place to scatter Primo's ashes, dealing with his crazy mother and ex-girlfriends, and reluctantly opening her home to Primo's deranged dog, Numb. And suddenly, in a New York minute, Mary is a brand new woman, playing bass guitar in an all woman punk band and plunging into a head spinning relationship with a pierced, tattooed man call Howard.