A man tries to determine the cost of a passionate but brief love affair, and his calculations lead him to a solemn but hopeful realization.

Vignettes of a number of relationships, most of them troubled, are glimpsed through the descriptions of creatures in this bestiary of the imaginary.

As a strictly sexual affair stretches past its expiration date, a woman and her taken lover struggle to define their burgeoning feelings for each other.

Following a messy breakup, an MIT graduate and a PhD student at Indiana University separately talk about the problems in their former relationship in two spliced-together conversations, exploring conflicts surrounding language, intimacy, commitment, and intellectualism.

A woman considers her possible shortcomings when her boyfriend tells her that he doesn’t like some things about her. After a period of reflection, she acknowledges the futility of self-deprecation.

A man fantasizes about courting his friend's wife, despite being married himself, with increasing desire.

When a depressed middle aged man strikes up a romance with his neighbor in a modern suburban American town, he consults women's magazines to make himself into the perfect lover.

A writer uses his relationship with a mysterious woman as inspiration for his magical realism story. But, things go awry when he begins to question their compatibility.

A three-years-married couple have lost the spark that once excited them, leading the wife to venture into tentative love affairs.

A lovestruck journalist and a torn painter pull the threads of their affair in opposite directions: he desires something more permanent, while she feels indebted to her husband and sons.