Both George, the hero of the first novella and Emma, the protagonist of the second, are troubled by “a sense of encroaching age, of promises betrayed and opportunities lost.” Both are happily married, with children, yet they yearn for lives of greater meaning. George gets into a bar brawl, has a nosebleed that leads to hospitalization and some facial paralysis. Emma, who is both a desperate housewife and a thwarted artist, falls into an affair. The stories are familiar; the style and form unusual.
