A series of very similar stories that are all both funny and tragic. GS says in an afterward discussion with David Sedaris that he likes to put ordinary people in a high-pressure circumstance and see what happens, i.e. he claims that he doesn't plan his stories out, but rather starts with an idea or situation and just sees where it goes. There are assorted delightful things here; medications that make characters fall in love or speak in Olde English, a reality TV show called I, Gropius that I will not describe, and, in more than one story, the redemption of an heroic act.

[Note: Some years ago I read a story that I liked a lot. I don't recall the title or author. It was the story of an overweight young man with OCD-like repetitive thoughts about his perceived worthlessness who stumbles upon a struggling child rushing down a river. It is so similar to these stories that I wonder if GS wrote it...? Let me know if you know it. [Note within note: I think it was probably The Falls. It was in the January 22, 1996 New Yorker. And it might be in Pastoralia.]]