Between 1982 and 1991 Donald Margulies wrote several innovative, emotionally challenging, and funny theatrical pieces. What's Wrong with this Picture" (1985) comically asks what happens if a dead family member comes back to life. The Model Apartment (1988) presents the lasting repercussions of the Holocaust on survivors and their children. And The Loman Family Picnic (1989) imaginatively interweaves Margulies's own Brooklyn childhood with Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman (1949). In these early plays Margulies prominently explores the identity struggles and familial problems of Jews in New York City. However, the most powerful aspect of his writing that developed during this period was his ability to use little details and small moments to suggest the hollowness of life, especially in regard to personal failures, loneliness, economic struggles, familial conflicts, the numbing repetition of daily existence, and the elusive nature of love. Despite the talent displayed in these works, Margulies, for the most part, was...