In present-day New York City, a strained lawyer writes to a stranger, an eating disorder doctor, in hopes of confronting the man about an overheard phone conversation.

After his newspaper route, a young paperboy enters a Southern café, only to be roped into a philosophical conversation surrounding love by an old man.

After a drunken night out, a high school English teacher is kidnapped by a strange man. But as she uncovers her abductor’s motivation, the power shifts back in her favor.

A Midwestern woman reflects on a past heartbreak from 1993 that led her to check into a tacky hotel, drink her worries away, seduce a married late-night radio talk show host, and doubtfully come to a personal realization.

When a middle-aged woman finds out that her deceased father, a prominent New York justice in the early 20th century, was cuckolded by her mother, the daughter reevaluates her father’s far-reaching influence on her life.

After the death of his wife, a man finds a photo album of computer-generated age progression pictures that prompt him to think about the unresolved disappearance of his young son.

A bipolar screenwriter in a New York City psych ward falls in love with a depressed Yugoslavian ballerina.

An unemployed woman in a contemporary urban setting passes a slow day at home, where mundanities consume her and reality seems far away.

A Chinese American woman living in contemporary Wisconsin plans out a vacation to England rather China, her usual destination. The thought of abandoning her home country takes her back to the more difficult moments of her life, from her estrangement from her parents to her failed marriage.

An Irish writer working on deadline tells a story about a female marine in Afghanistan who is estranged from her family. As the story grows, the Irish writer is confronted with unwelcome regrets concerning his own difficult family life.