A collection of contemporary fiction that contains forty-five short stories by various authors.

Barcelona / Alice Adams -- The Rudy Elmenhurst story / Julia Alvarez -- The man from Mars / Margaret Atwood -- The Indian uprising / Donald Barthelme -- Snow / Charles Baxter -- The Cinderella waltz / Ann Beattie -- Descent of man / T. Coraghessan Boyle -- Blazo / Ron Carlson -- Cathedral / Raymond Carver -- One holy night / Sandra Cisneros -- The babysitter / Robert Coover -- Murphy's Xmas / Mark Costello -- A father's story / Andre Dubus -- Pet milk / Stuart Dybek -- Saint Marie / Louise Erdich -- Rock Springs / Richard Ford -- A very old man with enormous wings / Gabriel García Márquez -- An evening performance / George Garrett -- In the heart of the heart of the country / William H. Gass -- The wizard / C.S. Godshalk -- Putting a child to bed / Tom Hawkins -- In the cemetery where Al Jolson is buried / Amy Hempel -- Cowboys are my weakness / Pam Houston -- Kwoon / Charles Johnson -- The black lights / Thom Jones -- Girl / Jamaica Kincaid -- Follow the eagle / William Kotzwinkle -- The new Atlantis / Ursula K. Le Guin -- No trace / David Madden -- Love life / Bobbie Ann Mason -- Lust / Susan Minot -- The tenant / Bharati Mukherjee -- Wild swans / Alice Munro -- Bad girls / Joyce Carol Oates -- The things they carried / Tim O'Brien -- Emotion recollected in tranquillity / Jonathan Penner -- Souvenir / Jayne Anne Phillips -- Coach / Mary Robinson -- Rules of the game / Amy Tan -- A death in the family / Hunter S. Thompson -- The other / John Updike -- Going to Russia / Guy Vanderhaeghe -- Everyday use / Alice Walker -- Taking care / Joy Williams -- In the garden of the North American martyrs.