one night in october when he was ten years old tyler dupree stood in his back yard and watched the stars go out they all flared into brilliance at once then disappeared replaced by a flat empty black barrier he and his best friends jason and diane lawton had seen what became known as the big blackout it would shape their liveslife on earth is about to get much much stranger lacey yeager is young captivating and ambitious enough to take the nyc art world by storm groomed at sothebys and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her lacey charms men and women old and young rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallel the soaring heightsand at times the dark lowsof the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today