Summary

“Gluttony” follows Dr. Elijah Jones, who has appeared in several other stories in the collection. This story takes place several years after the story “Sloth.” Elijah is still married to Susan, and their marriage is generally strong. Elijah appears to have developed some compulsive eating habits over the past years. Susan and Elijah’s oldest child—Raphael, nicknamed “Rafe”—is a high school senior. Raphael recently began dating a college freshman named Donna. One day, Susan speaks to Elijah after he arrives home from work. Susan says that Donna recently became pregnant by Raphael, and that she had an abortion. Elijah is surprised by this news but not deeply shocked or disturbed. The narrative briefly digresses to state that Susan has taken up fiction writing, and that she once based a somewhat unpleasant character on Elijah. Instead of feeling insulted, Elijah...