Steven Lidz lives a happy and secure life in the home of his loving mother and inventor father in 1962 Los Angeles. However, things take a tragic turn when his mom, Selma, becomes terminally ill with cancer.



Because Steven's father can't bring himself to deal honestly with Selma's impending death, Steven chooses to live with his two eccentric uncles, Danny and Arthur.



While Danny suffers from paranoia and sees anti-Semitic conspiracies everywhere, Arthur is a childlike pack rat who has filled their apartment with stacks of newspapers and hundreds of small items he's found in the streets. Despite their strange lifestyles, the uncles manage to usher Steven through this difficult period of his life, and find a creative way of dealing with his grief.