Jim Finley

Jim is the protagonist and narrator (for the main section) of the novel. He is an experimental documentary filmmaker from New York City, who persuades Elster to star in a documentary about him and his time in the Pentagon. It is a minimalist film, with Elster standing against a wall, speaking for an extended period of time. Jim is interested, as an artist, in getting to the core of an issue or subject—and in this case the subject is Elster’s mind. Jim first appears in the prologue to the novel, which takes place at the 24 Hour Psycho exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, a similarly abstract and experimental film project: Hitchcock’s Psycho slowed down to play over the course of a day.

Jim is fascinated (if not obsessed) by the exhibit and returns several times, as he does with everything else in his...