Eventually, his obsession culminates in a meeting with the elusive American-Russian actress Kitty Alexander, a star from Hollywood's Golden Age.

Alex further hopes to find his own immortality and success as a published writer, painstakingly compiling a book based on Lenny Bruce's 'Jewish or Goyische' routine, cataloging what objects, customs, and aspects of life can be divided into either Jewish or non-Jewish categories.

Alex hopes to one day obtain the autograph of Kitty Alexander, an obscure Russian-American leading woman of a small handful of 1940s films.

Learning the elderly Kitty is still alive and living in seclusion in New York, Alex has been sending her fan mail for years, only to never receive a reply.

The impending anniversary pushes Alex further into drug and alcohol abuse, and he begins having an affair with a girl named Boot who buys collectibles from his shop.

In the throes of a drug binge, Alex produces an autographed photo of Kitty Alexander he claims to have received in the mail; his friends write it off as a forgery of his own making.

Alex initially believes them right, until another letter arrives; determined to meet Kitty, he leaves for a collectibles' convention in New York City, abandoning Esther on the day she's having open heart surgery to repair her faulty pacemaker.

Promising to correct the news, Alex instead takes advantage of public mourning around Kitty's death to present a number of items she had given to him at a prestigious London auction house.