As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host, but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way, and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements, that I slunk off in the direction of the cocktail table – the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without looking purposeless and alone.
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby. Chapter 3, it is ironic that Nick expresses his uncomfortableness since he – unlike Gatsby’s other guests – has been invited to attend the lavish party at Gatsby’s mansion.