Bloom describes the arrival of the Hasidim in Postville.

Throughout the book, Bloom describes the power struggles between the two groups, culminating in a ballot referendum held by the town calling for annexation of the land where the plant was located, which permitted the town to gain the ability to tax and regulate the plant.

In the Afterword of the updated edition of the book, Bloom describes the receiving in the aftermath of the book's publication frequent accusations of airing the Jews' "dirty laundry", and betraying his brethren.

Initially their marriage was harmonious and improved their relationship, but Bloom describes how in the second year it began to deteriorate as Roth withdrew emotionally "perhaps too much harmony had become an obstacle to his creativity".

In the following period, in which Roth left the hospital, Bloom describes herself as going through a near breakdown and acting in a distressed and desperate manner.

The Erskines and the Adlers believed that they were bestowing moral and cultural goods on the masses; Bloom describes himself as seeking refuge in the common reader-the last man, he feels, who still might read for pleasure... Describes an evening cognac by Bloom and his retiring to sleep...

Last year our reviewer, Sarah Ferguson, said Bloom "writes lyrically and describes complicated emotional states with great sensitivity and tenderness."

Goldberg and Bloom described a woman who suffered a large left anterior cerebral infarction of the medial surface of the left frontal lobe which left her with the frontal variant of the alien hand involving the right hand.

My favorite moment in the quartet comes in "Compassion and Mercy," when Bloom describes the Friday night dinners the recently widowed Clare prepares for Nelson, the cleaning lady's son.

In a 2011 profile in Women's Wear Daily Harold Bloom described the book as "...just awful" and "[written with] no discernible talent."