Summary

Five-Jiao Men: From the Diaries of Lenny Abramov – It is September 5. Lenny reports that there have been a rash of suicides, and that he has had difficulty emotionally connecting to anyone. Schools have been shut down and food is scarce. Among the biggest employers now is Staatling-Wapachung, which now has a Works Progress program paying five-jiao coin per hour. Eunice, meanwhile, tends to the elderly people in the building, passing on their food requests to Joshie, who brings in shipments of food just for their building – which confuses Lenny. Eunice’s care for the elderly, however, in addition to Lenny’s fear of the elderly, makes Lenny fall in love with her all over again. Eunice in turn seems to realize just how deeply Lenny loves her, and their sex reaches a new level of pleasure and intensity. However...