In a futuristic society in which free speech is illegal without a license, a man works to get his license by having strange and touching conversations with a bizarre cast of characters.

A man meets two women on a train and is occupied by the talkative one, but enamored by the quiet one.

A teacher on the Lower East side meets a friendly man with a presence resembling a dead English poet.

A young couple obsessed with syntax sets off to meet their favorite author.

A mother, her two children, and their stepfather come over to a friend’s for a dinner on Labor Day.

A daughter, on the verge of becoming a mother, learns a great deal in spending time with her own mother.

A woman, living with her husband, is overcome with a strange, inexplicable ailment to her body.

Years after facing abuse from the hermit overseeing a nature preserve, two children—now adults—enact their revenge.

The ex-wife of a famous male writer considers a story he wrote about a neighbor they once had.