A 13-year-old boy growing up in a Catholic orphanage in the slums of Bangkok learns that he is the final incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu and must battle the dragon Jade to keep the world green.

Visiting Tokyo in the 1980s, a Swedish aspiring civil rights attorney from Minnesota spends her last night with a Japanese lover.

Jack wanders around the world trying to find the right person, but nobody seems to stay long enough—that is, until he meets Jamie, a person he never thought he could love, and things change forever.

Upon encountering a former student of his on the train, a pompous writer is knocked off of his pedestal.