New Jersey

The protagonist is born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1933 and is raised there by his Jewish parents. His father’s business, Everyman’s Jewelry Store, is located in Elizabeth. The cemetery where the protagonist and his parents are all eventually interred is located in the nearby city of Newark, New Jersey. Although the protagonist moves away from New Jersey as an adult, it marks both the beginning and ending of the protagonist’s life, as he lives in a retirement community on the Jersey Shore after he retires.

Cemetery

The novel begins and ends at a Jewish cemetery in Newark where the protagonist and his parents are all eventually interred. The protagonist first visits the cemetery for his father’s funeral, and he experiences extreme grief and panic as he watches his father being buried. He then attends the funeral again for his mother’s funeral. He...