 The town's population of around 1,300 had a mixed relationship with the Hasidim.Throughout the book, Bloom describes the power struggles between the two groups, culminating in a ballot referendum held by the town calling for annexation of the land where the plant was located, which permitted the town to gain the ability to tax and regulate the plant.According to the jacket, the book tries to the answer whether ""the Iowans [were] prejudiced, or were the Lubavitchers simply unbearable?""