| Griswold | Adams | One of Ogden's acquaintances. |
| Jimmy | Ames | Milton's caretaker. |
| Polly | Ames | Crocketts' daughter. |
| Mrs. | Astor | Evie's acquaintance. |
| Jane | Austen | English novelist. |
| Mr. | Bacharach | A photographer. |
| Granny | Baker | One of Milton's guests. |
| Fillmore | Baker Jr. | One of Milton's guests. |
| James Arthur | Baldwin | American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist. |
| Pres | Bancroft | A banker at Milton Higginson. |
| Susie | Bancroft | Solly Weinberg's acquaintance. |
| Saul | Bellow | Canadian-American writer. |
| William S. | Burroughs | American novelist, short story writer, essayist and painter. |
| Mrs. | Cheever | One of Milton's guests. |
| Winston | Churchill | British Prime Minister. |
| Cassius | Clay | Christian name of Muhammad Ali. |
| Ornette | Coleman | American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer. |
| Dr. | Conklin | Seth's professor. |
| Gary | Cooper | American actor. |
| Mr. | Crockett | Former owner of the house. |
| Macaulay | Culkin | American actor. |
| Maisie | Cunningham | One of Milton's guests. |
| Miles | Davis | American trumpeter, bandleader and composer. |
| Charles | Dickens | English writer and social critic. |
| Dwight D. | Eisenhower | 34th U.S. President. |
| Ralph | Ellison | American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer. |
| | Evans | A principal. |
| Eddie | Fenwick | Anne Pratt's husband. |
| Franz | Ferdinand | Austrian archduke. |
| Francisco | Franco | The head of the government of Spain. |
| Sigmund | Freud | Austrian neurologist. The founding father of psychoanalysis. |
| Allen | Ginsberg | American poet and writer. |
| Paul Joseph | Goebbels | A master orator and propagandist. |
| Mrs. | Gould | One of Milton's guests. |
| Hazel | Graves | Evie's colleague. |
| Lorraine | Hansberry | American playwright and writer. |
| Nathaniel | Hawthorne | American novelist, dark romantic,and short story writer. |
| Reinhard | Heydrich | A Nazi German official. |
| Jack | Higginson | Ogden's business partner. |
| Adolf | Hitler | The leader of the Nazi Party. |
| Elsa Walser | Hoffman | Bernhard's daughter. |
| Gerhard | Hoffman | Elsa's husband. aka: Getan. |
| Wilhelm | Hoffman | Elsa's son. aka: Willy. |
| Duncan | Houghton | Kitty's cousin. aka: Dunc. |
| Mrs. | Hunnicut | One of Milton's acquaintances. |
| Henry | James | American novelist. |
| Philly Joe | Jones | A drummer. |
| Herr | Josten | Bernhard's acquaintance. |
| Bing | Lamont | One of Milton's guests. |
| Elliot | Lamont | Constance's husband. |
| D.H. | Lawrence | An English writer. |
| Charles | Levy | Len Levy's son. aka: Charlie. |
| Leonard | Levy | Ogden's employee. aka: Len. |
| Charles | Lindberg | Ogden's acquaintance. aka: Lindy. |
| Whit | Lord | Joan's acquaintance. |
| Sally | Lowell | Harry Lowell's wife. |
| Harry | Lowell Jr. | Ogden Milton's friend. |
| Harry | Lowell Sr. | Harry Lowell Jr.'s father. |
| Miss | Lowenstein | Kitty's acquaintance. |
| Constance | Ludlow | Teeni and Bing's daughter. |
| Norman | Mailer | Moss' acquaintance. |
| Augie | March | Australian indie/pop rock band. |
| Mrs. | Marstead | A cook. |
| Cy | Matthews | One of Milton's guests. |
| Oatsie | Matthews | One of Milton's guests. |
| Mrs. | Meecham | Ogden's employee. |
| Henry | Miller | An American writer and artist. |
| Evie | Milton | Joan's daughter. |
| Katherine H. | Milton | A wealthy socialite living the good life in New York City. aka: Kitty. |
| Ogden Moss | Milton | Kitty's husband. Aka: Og. |
| Ogden Moss | Milton Jr. | One of Kitty's children. aka: Moss. |
| Bill | Moffat | A writer. |
| Jim | Mollow | A trumpeter. |
| Private | Muller | A soldier. |
| Benito | Mussolini | Italian political leader who became the fascist dictator of Italy. |
| Daryl | Norton | One of both Evie and Paul's most trusted sparring partner. |
| Reginald | Pauling | African-American writer. aka: Reg. |
| Mrs. | Phipps | Kitty's mother's friend. |
| Cole | Porter | American composer and songwriter. |
| Sarah | Porter | A teacher. |
| Anne | Pratt | Dickie's sister. aka: Annie. |
| Dickie | Pratt | Evelyn's fiance. aka: Dick. |
| Henry H. | Pratt | Evie's eldest cousin. |
| Roger | Pratt | Dickie's father. |
| Sarah | Pratt | Dickie's mother. |
| Shepherd | Pratt | One of Evie's cousin. aka: Shep. |
| Colonel Rudy | Putzgraff | One of the German officers. |
| Larkin | Reed | An author. |
| John D. | Rockefeller | Head of the Standard Oil Company. One of the world's richest man. |
| Eleanor | Roosevelt | Former First Lady of the United States. |
| Franklin D. | Roosevelt | 32nd President of the United States. |
| Theodore | Roosevelt | 26th president of the United States. |
| Barney | Rosset | Joan's boss. |
| Colonel | Rutzbahr | One of the German officers. |
| John Singer | Sargent | A painter. |
| Honey | Schermerhorn | Evie's oldest friend. |
| Paul | Schlesinger | Evie's husband. |
| Miss | Scrivener | A teacher. |
| William | Shakespeare | English playwright and poet. |
| Dick | Sherman | Milton's lawyer. |
| Young Dick | Sherman | Moss' classmate. |
| Jack | Slade | American criminal. |
| Proc | Smedley | Ogden's acquaintance. |
| Dr. | Southworth | Joan's physician. |
| Joseph | Stalin | The ruler of the Soviet Union. |
| Adlai | Stevenson | 23rd vice president of the United States. |
| Emmett | Till | African-American murder victim. |
| Anthony | Trollope | English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. |
| Mike | Wallace | One of Ogden's acquaintances. |
| Bernhard | Walser | A businessman. |
| Frank | Warren | A promoter. |
| Solly | Weinberg | Ogden's acquaintance. aka: Sol. |
| Aldo | Weld | Chairman of the Philosophy Department at Harvard. |
| Fenno | Weld | Mrs. Ames' boy. |
| Mrs. | Winslow | Kitty's acquaintance. |
| Mrs. | Withers | Kitty's acquaintance. |
| Abby | | Evelyn's friend. |
| Addie | | Jack's wife. |
| Alice | | Kitty's aunt. |
| Babs | | One of Milton's guests. |
| Bill | | Maisie's brother. |
| Evelyn | | Kitty's youngest child. |
| Fanny | | A lecturer. |
| Fillmore Sr. | | One of Milton's guests. |
| Frank | | An elevator man. |
| Franny | | Joan's cousin. |
| Franz | | Gerhard's brother. |
| George | | Miles Davis' drummer. |
| Gertrude | | Bernhard Walser's wife. |
| Harriet | | Ogden's mother. |
| Harriet | | One of Evie's cousin. |
| Jean | | Moss' acquaintance. |
| Jessie | | A cook. |
| Jo | | Granny Houghton's gardener. |
| Joan | | One of Kitty's children. aka: Joanie. |
| Johnny | | A doorman. |
| Jonathan | | Evie's great-uncle. |
| Malcolm X | | African American civil rights leader. |
| Maud | | Evie's aunt. |
| Minerva | | Evie's cousin. aka: Min. |
| Neddy | | One of Kitty's children. |
| Peggy | | One of Milton's guests. |
| Possy | | Charlie's daughter. |
| Priss | | Duncan's wife. |
| Seth | | Evie's son. |
| Teeni | | One of Milton's guests. |
| William | | Kitty's uncle. |
