What was it like to grow up with the possibility of nuclear annihilation? Angst traces the lives of two young Yankee fans in the Bronx: Joseph, who is always in awe of Sammy, a math and science whiz. They come of age shortly after the Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. Their fear of a Soviet attack leads them to set up a fallout shelter in the basement of their apartment building. Sammy can't shake his obsession with the possibility of nuclear war, but after a while, Joseph's interest turns to girls. The boys go on to MIT and Columbia University, respectively, and when Sammy immigrates to Israel, Joseph loses track of his friend. After a torrid love affair, Joseph marries Devy, and then becomes a rabbi and a Ph.D. in religion. The couple has a child; then Devy discovers she has cancer. Their angst leads them to return to the Bronx to live with Devy's mother. Joseph finds a position with a Jewish school and synagogue, where one of his duties is to conduct services at the Jewish Residential Psychiatric Center. He discovers his old friend, Sammy, has been a long-term patient at the Center. Joseph learns of Sammy's horrible experiences in Israel, and tries to rehabilitate him by bringing him to live with them at Devy's mother's house.