He's a pretty good guy, Robert. Reasonably honest, compassionate, dependable, maybe a little too sarcastic, but all in all, a decent human being. And that's how he gets screwed by his family. So for the past fifteen years or so, since finishing college, he's managed, for the most part, to avoid them.
With the death of his father, however, he finds himself being sucked back into the familial vortex. At its center is the glue that binds the Nirth family, or rather, the sucking tar pit that traps them, Robert's mother-- Helen. After her husband's death, she embraces the role of martyred widow with the panache of Mary Todd Lincoln. And because she knows she's now dependent on Robert for her very survival (he is, after all, her only reliable offspring), she works his sense of humanity like a maestro. All that said, deep down, beneath her callous shell and disparaging remarks... well, she's callous and disparaging.
Robert's older sister, Darlene, is a born-again Christian with a successful husband, two perfect children with an addiction to alcohol and extramarital sex. She believes that Robert judges her, and she resents him deeply for it. Robert's older brother Lenny, on the other hand, resents him because he has a steady income. Ten years Robert's senior, Lenny is still living the rock 'n' roll dream. But, at forty-six, with thinning hair, a hanging gut, and an abundant lack of talent, Lenny's drive to push his band, Pink Lloyd, has left him broke and wildly bitter.
Robert's perspective on his family begins to change, however, when he meets Amy, the beautiful sister of his gay, overweight, paraplegic neighbor. Amy is an astonishingly independent woman who captures his heart, and-- after he hears her story-- makes him realize that he doesn't have to remain the victim of a destructive family.
Robert's also getting to know and love his 10-year-old nephew, Danny (who isn't the kid Robert thought he was). Through Danny, Robert realizes that his sister is much like his mother, and that Danny is living a childhood as bad as his own. These revelations-- in the midst of awe-inspiring acts of selfish retribution by his family-- lead Robert to make the most crucial decision of this life: to break with them, and rescue his nephew.
