Summary

In Chapter 1, the novel opens in 1999 in Memphis, Tennessee. Larry, the protagonist, is a secular Jewish man who resides in Brooklyn. He is 30 years old. He has come to Memphis to mourn the death of his father. Larry comes from an Orthodox Jewish family, but years ago, Larry decided that he no longer wished to follow religious practices. Larry’s sister, Dina, sill practices Orthodox Judaism. Dina is married to an Orthodox man, they have children, and they live among a community of other Orthodox Jews in Memphis. Out of respect for his sister, Larry has come to Memphis to participate in shivah, the specific rituals by which Orthodox Jews mourn recently deceased family members. Larry finds the responsibilities of shivah ridiculous and uncomfortable, and he makes his discontentment evident. Larry remembers a conversation that he had with his dying father. His father talked...