The characters found in jokes are forced to act out the jokes every time they are told.

A New York bartender attempts to engage in a conversation about owning comets — as in, the ones in space —with his somewhat crazy customer.

When a Soviet state official attempts to coerce a celebrated poet into apologizing for a political joke he made, the official gets a taste of his own predatory medicine at the hand of the poet's vengeful wife.

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

At the root of her complicated family formed by her father and stepmother, a girl faces years of abuse through what they consider to be a “royal beating.”

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

A woman embarks on a treacherous, snowy journey to help her friend.

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