 Life thunders along for the Sampson family: Saul begins to atone for his violent past, Nicky s deep in his affair with the Polish émigré, Eli has become a dark prophet of life and death and his mother s chances of survival, while Sarah moves ever closer to realizing the Rapture of Literature and bedding her Lit 12 teacher. Ari holds everything together but cannot control what comes out of the woodwork: Ellie the barfly marches all the way across town with a 35 year-old secret. She s somebody s mother. And Katie? Having held death at bay, she has achieved what all talk show hosts crave: an Oprah-like aura with ratings to match.