Zoyd is Frenesi’s ex-husband and Prairie’s father. When the novel opens in 1984, he is living in Vineland as a single parent with Prairie. Zoyd has become famous for his annual stunts, which involve dressing up in an outlandish way and throwing himself through a window, ostensibly to secure the continuance of his intellectual disability checks. In reality, these stunts are part of a deal he has formed with Brock Vond, a government agent, which enables Zoyd to retain custody of Prairie. The intellectual disability checks are not enough money for Zoyd to support himself and Prairie, so he also works a series of odd jobs to make ends meet.

After one of his stunts, Zoyd learns from another federal agent, Hector, that Frenesi has gone missing. Hector has spent years trying to turn Zoyd into a government informant, without success. He tells Zoyd that Brock Vond is trying to locate Frenesi. Both Zoyd and Frenesi were once hippies, with Frenesi closely involved in a radical student movement that created the short-lived People’s Republic of Rock and Roll. Frenesi eventually started a relationship with Vond and betrayed the movement afterward; she later married Zoyd. Zoyd has mixed feelings toward Frenesi: While she was unfaithful to him and abandoned both her marriage and their daughter many years ago, Zoyd still thinks often of his wedding day and the love he once had for her.