A term notably used by French poet Charles Baudelaire ("The Albatross"), a flâneur is typically a male figure depicted as a wanderer who, separated from society, comments on contemporary life in an urban setting. Leilani positions Edie in this reimagining of the male flâneur as she roams the streets of New York City in isolation. Despite her job in the editing department of a children’s publisher, Edie does little work throughout the novel. Her work life is one filled with her various uninhibited sexual escapades, which lead to her dismissal. An artist, Edie returns to painting in Chapter 1 and attempts to recreate what she observes and experiences in her exploits to varying degrees of success. When living in Eric and Rebecca’s home, she observes closely the scenes of family life and attempts to recreate these scenes in acute detail.

Through such observations, Edie develops her craft and examines her own place in a lonely world. She carefully examines her subjects and their relationships with one another while simultaneously attempting to draw herself, a feat she is only able to accomplish near the end of the novel.