A catalog of the tools different alien species use to read and write, leading to fundamental questions about what it means to make patterns of knowledge against the noise of the universe.

A linguist is called to investigate robots that seem to have created their own language.

An old linguistics researcher is ousted from his university position on the frontier of a small island he acculturated. Upon his return home, he begins to believe that he and his life's work are marginal.

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

A maid, silently and in thought alone, contemplates her own position in a house full of opulent, decadent lives.

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

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.