This collection presents characters in the midst of personal and national crises. We meet a failed poet who, envious of other people's wealth during the real-estate bubble, becomes an embezzler; a clavichordist whose dreams of art collapse under the obligations of marriage and fatherhood; and, in "Bronze," a sexually confused college freshman whose encounter with a stranger on a train leads to a revelation about his past and his future.

"After the sudden death of his wife, Maida, Gene is haunted by the fear that their marriage was not all it appeared to be. Alongside Ed and Gayle Donnelly, friends since college days, he tries to resurrect happy memories of the times the two couples shared, raising their children in a small New Hampshire town and vacationing together at a lake house every summer. Meanwhile, his daughter, Dary, challenges not only his happy version of the past but...

Unsuspecting Jemima Puddle-Duck foolishly allows the cunning Fox to help her find a "safe" nest. Kep, the barnyard collie, and her pups rescue Jemima Puddle-Duck from the fox's cooking pot.

After the death of her father, Isabel Archer, a young American woman, travels to England to stay with her aunt, where she finds herself an object of affection for several men. When she is left a large legacy by her ailing uncle, she also attracts the attention of those with an interest in her substantial fortune. Faced with decisions about her future, Isabel must live with the consequences of the choices she makes, as her life is forever altered. The...

After visiting each other's homes, Johnny Town-Mouse and Timmy Willy who lives in the country, decide that they prefer their own place.

"As full of excitement and the unexpected as his world-famous, best-selling books, Roald Dahl's tales of his own childhood are completely fascinating and fiendishly funny"--P. [4] of cover.