In an unlikely encounter, a homeless teenage boy recounts harsh events of his life to a writer. He nonchalantly tells of an employer whose assignments caused him to have permanent physical and mental damage.

A creative writing teacher sits through a conference with one his favorite students. He takes us on a journey through the characters in the story, and in his life.

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 wary husband reluctantly allows an old, blind friend of his wife’s to visit their home, prompting an unlikely connection between the two men.

Two men sit outdoors at a restaurant during the Great Depression and gossip about the experiences and occupations of individuals they've encountered.

During an unwanted conversation with a stranger on a train in India, a woman reflects on her loveless marriage to her husband — born of financial necessity — and her abandoned dream to attend college in America.

A young woman watches jealously as her lover devotes more time and attention to his blind friend. As the friend drives a wedge between them, the woman feels helpless to stop him.

Across two difficult decades, two siblings come together and drift apart.

Just before an American college student is set to leave for the airport after visiting her extended family in Ethiopia, she realizes her suitcases are too heavy. A fight breaks out between her relatives about what items should travel with her at their behest, versus which ones deserve to be left behind.

Two women, once the closest of childhood friends, chart diametrically opposite courses through life when scandal drives them apart. Thirty years later, a chance reunion prompts one of them to question everything.