In the depths of his mind, a writer tries to uncover the autonomous, nefarious motivations of his own characters.

A government official scorns a young man, a former student of his, by coming between him and the woman he is pursuing. The young man seeks revenge, but the corruption of his country's politics brings him face to face with violence as he tries to gain political power and romantic love.

An author discusses with his friend the best way to write about a poor aunt. Their words take on a new power when he manifests a literal poor aunt on his back and draws in spectators.

A maid obsessed who emulates God through hard work must offer acts of contrition to her employer, who erotically punishes her daily when she fails to achieve perfection in her work.

A mathematician tries to convince his machinist friend to travel through time with him, leading to a heated discussion of man’s hubris and the possible paradoxes that could open up if they disturb the time-space continuum.

In 1960s America, a woman marries a selfish man who eventually accuses her of causing his mental illness and abandons her. She then begins to live her life sexually freed and embark on friendships and affairs centered around her own desires.

When a Japanese man visiting Singapore with his girlfriend gets sick from a local crab restaurant, it upends his entire relationship.

Throughout her life, a young woman from the future has gathered evidence about her ancestors to understand the way they lived before and during the era when society was reimagined.

A son tells a series of stories, most of them about his father and stepfather. As the son describes a robbery that took place at his house in high school and his experiences with his father, a former Jehovah's Witness and current alcoholic, he begins to recall details from his childhood.

Writing a foreword, a man reflects on his relationship to a writer and said writer's wife.