The Prologue opens with Carl Sagan’s explanation of how to “invent the universe” (1) by comparing the creation of the universe to making an apple pie from scratch. According to Sagan, “You have to start at the beginning” (1). Just as the universe needed the Big Bang and the dinosaurs to produce existence as we know it today, an apple pie made from scratch requires fire, soil and seeds, animals that can produce milk, various sciences, and the arts. Without the history of these materials’ varied advances, a simple apple pie cannot be made.

Daniel’s older brother, Charlie Jae Won Bae, has just been suspended from Harvard University for two semesters. Within the family, Charlie has been the exceptionally-accomplished older brother, attends one of the best schools in the U.S., and is deemed likely to succeed in life. This makes his suspension all the more confusing for Daniel and Charlie’s parents. Due to this news, their parents are applying extra pressure on Daniel to do well in his interview with a Yale alum, in the hopes that he will get into the Ivy-League school as a pre-medical student.