As described using Atkinson inside the NY Times: "A scornful characteristic editor of a newspaper choices a formidable young reporter to behavior the recommendation of the lovelorn column. Ambitious, opportunistic, 'Miss Lonelyhearts,' as the conductor of the column is necessarily dubbed, begins with contempt of the correspondents and self-assurance in his cleverness. As time goes on, the genuineness of the pain inside the letters that come in gets beneath the skin of the columnist. He is distressed to locate himself presiding over a titanic swindle. For he is an idealist in collision with humanity, as his diabolical handling editor expresses it."