The Orientation portrays a newbie at the office, so he is being introduced to everyone and everything by the coworker. The excursion is rather ridiculous, for the said coworker feels the need to explain how a microwave works and what a fridge is. However, not everything he is telling is a piece of rubbish information. The co-worker turns out to be very well-informed about lives of other colleagues. He knows who hates whom, who loves whom, who can foresee the future, who is a dangerous serial killer, whose husband is an abuser, who is rather obsessed with penguins and whose wife is dead. The longer he speaks, the clearer it becomes that even this dull office can be full of secrets and one should be really careful if he/she wants to survive there. This office is like a mini-society, a microworld with its own leaders, losers, outcasts and even celebrities.
Bridge portrays a young and seemingly unremarkable man who joins the crew that paints the bridge. Unlike many others, he doesn’t even try to be sociable. The man is so uninterested in the life of a crew that he doesn’t even care what a nickname they can pick up for him. That is how he becomes Baby. One day Baby witnesses a suicide and this sight affects him greatly. He is shocked and this feeling of dread puts an end to his carelessness. In the end, he asks them to change his nickname.
Hunger Tales are about a feeling that can drive a person crazy. This is about a rather unhealthy relationship with food. Here is the woman who works out on regularly, tries to eat healthily and, in general, seems to be quite a reasonable person. However, it turns out to be that she is obsessed with mega-markets, who likes spending hours wandering there, choosing between different kinds of cookies and hiding from people. Those cookies bring her more joy than her whole life. The second story is about obesity. Hector used to live a normal life, but now he is trapped inside his tiny flat that stinks awfully. He wants to live, feel a touch of a fresh breeze on his skin, an intimate relationship, but this is impossible. Food is his only one joy. The last story is about a father and a son who return from the funeral of the woman who used to be a wife to the first one and a mother to the boy. They sit at the table, eating turkey and then something happens that both of them lose control and start to shovel all food that is available in the house into their mouths.
I Run Every Day portrays a man whose biggest fear is to become like one of his coworkers who is unhealthy plump. His nickname is The New Guy and he works on the docks. The man is not sociable, he doesn’t have either friends or his own family. His true passion is running. He starts spending more and more time hiking, exhausting himself nearly to death, but feeling content. He also rapes his female coworker, when she dares to say that they are alike. It irks him, for she is plump and he is thin.
Samoza’s Dream is about the last days of the Presidente-in-Exile Anastasio Somoza Debayle.
Officer Weep is a short story that depicts one routine day of two cops.
Only Connect is a story about a woman who becomes a witness to the murder and manages to survive. The killers spare her life and let her go. However, the memories from that evening refuse to leave her.
Temporary Stories portrays Clarissa Snow, who has to try her hand at different careers, for there is no permanent place of work for her.
Shakers is a story that describes the beginning of an earthquake.
