Rabbi Jerry Goldkern resides in Lud, New Jersey, where Jews from the surrounding states come to bury their dead. Distressed by the lack of living children in the area, the Rabbi's daughter Connie creates a scandal that livens up the town of Lud when she testifies to meeting the Virgin Mary. Widely considered to be one of the most important authors of the contemporary era, Stanley Elkin is a two-time winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and has been nominated for the National Book Award on three occasions. He is the author of over a dozen novels and a short story collection, including The Magic Kingdom, The Franchiser, and George Mills. Dalkey Archive Press began a project in 1998 to restore to print all of Elkin's work.