Summary

“I Am Asleep but My Heart Is Awake” is narrated by a woman whose father has recently died. Her mother died years ago. The woman is now living in the father’s New York City apartment. Her father was an academic of Jewish religion and history. One day, a man named Boaz arrives in the apartment, claiming he was a friend of the father, and that the father let Boaz stay at the apartment whenever Boaz was in town. Boaz has apparently assumed that he will still be given that privilege. Internally, the narrator is furious, but she is unable to confront Boaz. Boaz unpacks his things and makes him at home, and the narrator feels unable to tell him to leave. She wonders if her father arranged this meeting for some reason, but...