Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of pregnancy loss and sexual assault.

Judd’s older sister, Wendy, calls to tell Judd that their father, who has been ill for a year and a half due to stomach cancer, has died and requested that the family sit shiva. Their father, though Jewish, was not observant, so the request comes as a surprise. Judd describes his family as emotionally repressed, with “our own genetically engineered brand of irony and evasion” (1). Wendy will fly to the east coast from Los Angeles with her husband and three young children. Judd’s older brother Paul is also coming. Wendy has left messages for Phillip, the youngest, who tends to be irresponsible and hard to reach.

Judd is preparing to drive to his childhood home in Elmsbrook, New York, two hours away, when Jen, his ex-wife-to-be, arrives. He is reminded of when he first saw her riding her bike on their college campus and is embarrassed that he now rents a basement room. They had been married for nine years. Jen wants to talk, but Judd is angry and resentful and reminds her that she slept with his boss, Wade.