THEY had all had breakfast in Ms. Curtis’s sleek bamboo kitchen. Ms. Curtis made waffles; Mr. Petrini made bacon upstairs in his apartment and brought it down with him. The night before, they had had dinner at the Curtis-Hetfield dining table and then moved upstairs to watch “The Birdcage” in Mr. Petrini’s living room (his television is closer to the fireplace). Then they all retired to their own bedrooms, including Ms. Curtis and Mr. Petrini. Hers opens to the garden; his is on the third floor. (A pause to savor the luxury that each member of this family enjoys.)

You may think this is an excerpt from a Dorothy Parker short story, but in fact it is a real life description of a Manhattan couple who have created what The New York Times portrays as an enlightened arrangement for their post-divorce romance. She lives with her family in the ground-floor apartment and he lives with his in the top floor apartment. They commute between the two abodes.

Thousands of post-divorce couples eke out an existence in grubby apartments with unmade beds, their fortunes permanently diminished by the plutocratic standards set by America’s elite, while the Curtis and Petrini households are “fluid,” sun-lit and well-applianced.

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