Chris
Chris is the protagonist. She's a young woman who's suppressed a lot of her convictions for a while, so she's feeling pretty desperate for outside attention. When her marriage with Sylvere starts falling apart, she refuses to address the problems; instead she looks for yet another exterior source of affirmation. Over the course of the novel, she writes an entire book of letters to this man, Dick, upon whom she fixates. She's consumed by the desire to have sex with him, placing Dick at the center of her marriage and even her identity. When he turns out to have no interest in her, she despairs as she experiences the shattering of her delusion.
Sylvere
Sylvere is the husband. Although he's not happy about Dick's presence in their lives, he can't help but explore the jealousy angle. He's the only one really interested in preserving the marriage, so he agrees to pursue Dick with Chris, hoping somehow through the process she'll be happy and re-engage with him. Sylvere even begins writing his own letters to Dick, but he's interested mostly for his wife's attention's sake.
Dick
Dick is a professor of media studies whom Chris meets once. He has no knowledge of Chris and Sylvere's sexual obsession with him until they finally decide to mail their letters in a collection. Needless to say he is disturbed. He turns Chris' offer down and takes increasingly adamant stances of opposition and ignorance to the couple.
