Louis grows up in Chicago with his sister Arlene and his younger brother Eli. He works at a used auto parts shop, and the owner passes the business on to him after he dies. Arlene dotes on Eli. Eli is a bookish child and becomes a famous author, and borrows money from Louis for tuition at Columbia, which he never offers to pay back. Louis marries a woman named Gerry. Eli goes through four marriages, all of which end in divorce. He writes about his ex-wives and his brother in a negative light in his novels. He wins all kinds of awards, none of which he seems happy about in his speeches. With his first wife, he becomes interested in Trotsky. Throughout his life he always looks to theory and grand ideas to absorb his thought. At one point, he borrows a quarter-million dollars from Louis after being scammed by a gangster. He later pays it back. The son of Eli's first wife, David, contacts Louis and asks to meet. David discusses how he was hurt by the awful way his mother was depicted in one of Eli's books. Louis can relate, in regards to the depiction of himself. Arlene, always doting on Eli, invites him, Louis, and Gerry to dinner with her neighbors, the Wertheimers, who say that they're fans of Eli's writing. Eli and the Wertheimers fight, and Eli kicks them out. Arlene dies from cancer. Eli does little for her while alive but speaks fondly of her after her death, like she was a saint. At 73, Eli leaves his fourth wife for a graduate student, with whom he has a child with Down's syndrome. He develops dementia and dies by suicide. At the funeral, many important people say great things about him. Louis doesn't think they're accurate.