Diesseits vom Paradies

Amory Blaine is gifted and privileged. From his mother he has the conviction that he was born to higher ground. He studies at Princeton, and after several flirtations he meets Rosalind, his first great love. When she leaves him for another man, Amory's youthful ideals shatter. What remains, however, is the alcohol, and despite all the sadness and disappointment, the realization that life, as pathetic and ridiculous as it often seems, is worth living: not beyond, but this side of paradise.