Summary

Holding a Pen, Punching, Self-Love – Irv drives Jacob and Max somewhere, arguing passionately and violently that the world hates Jews, and that Jews should fight back with whatever means they have, saying that a Jewish fist can do more than write or masturbate. He also berates Jacob for not doing enough with his life (“You should forge in the smithy of your soul the uncreated conscience of your race” (198), conversation revealing that Jacob makes his living writing for a well-regarded, successful television show. Narration reveals that on his own time, Jacob has also been writing a television show of his own creation, based so closely on his life that his family sometimes says things that his characters have only recently said in the script. Narration also reveals how much preparation Jacob puts into the show without actually producing...