Summary

This chapter begins with Mendelssohn complaining about the lost art of newspaper folding. He then recalls back to the last week, when he visited his son, Eliot, his third wife, and his step-children. Mendelssohn then makes a snide comment about one of the children’s names, Aldous. Mendelssohn then thinks of his daughter, Katya, who is with her children on a peace mission in Israel.

The chapter then shifts into a series of flashbacks. Mendelssohn remembers his parents, who were not traditional Jews, but spoke Yiddish. They moved from their home country to Dublin, after his father got a job at a medical school. Readers then learn that Mendelssohn’s first name is Peter, and that his future wife, Eileen Daly was his neighbor. Mendelssohn's family left Dublin for America when he was around 12 years old. On the boat ride...