The protagonist of Don DeLillo's new novel, billionaire Ross Lockhart, is the main investor in a remote and mysterious settlement, where death is exquisitely controlled and bodies are preserved until future times. The health of his wife Artis is rapidly declining. Ross' son Jeff joins Ross and Artis at the settlement to say goodbye to her when her body fails. Ross also feels a deep need to enter another dimension and wake up in a new world. Instead, his son seeks to live and experience "the jumble of wonders of our time here on earth."