A collection of short fiction presents eleven stories that capture important moments in the course of a life and in the lives intertwined with it, in a volume that ranges from the 1930s to the 1980s.

The bad news -- The art of cooking and serving -- The headless horseman -- My last duchess -- The other place -- Monopoly -- Moral disorder -- White horse -- The entities -- The Labrador fiasco -- The boys at the lab.