In seventeenth-century Delft, a fanatically curious fabric merchant invents the microscope. Even as he neglects and abuses his family, he discovers a new world of life.

A grown man remembers the summer of 1984 when a girl he had a crush on took him on a tour of her haunted house.

In this modern retelling of the Faust legend, an American baseball player stuck in the minor leagues spends years of his life striving for a .368 lifetime batting average. A series of bets with his manager brings his bargain -- and the meaning of his career -- to the fore.