Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussions of suicidal ideation, an attempt to die by suicide, and incestuous fantasies.

The Book of Daniel is divided into two timelines. In the primary timeline, set in 1967, Daniel Lewin (originally named Daniel Isaacson) writes his dissertation at Columbia University. He has a “deliberately cool” appearance. The focus of his dissertation is radical politics in the United States. This is particularly relevant to Daniel as his biological parents, Paul and Rochelle Isaacson, were executed after being found guilty of espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union. Daniel’s attempts to piece together his parents’ story form the secondary timeline.

In 1967, Daniel is writing his dissertation in the library of Columbia University. His research makes him think about Memorial Day, earlier in the year when he visited Massachusetts with his family. Daniel and his wife Phyllis have a young son named Paul, after Daniel’s biological father. While Daniel is 25 and on the cusp of completing his graduate degree, Phyllis is 19 and did not attend college. Daniel and his family hitchhike to the state hospital in Worchester, a “public facility for the mentally ill” (6).