Dramatically different in style and form, these tales range from the wicked (a divorcée recounts her failed marriages sardonically from A to Z), to heart-wrenchingly commonplace (an older Indian woman struggles to find a husband during humiliating bride-viewings), and emotionally barren (a mother cannot understand why her family doesn"t love her enough to remember her son"s first birthday). At times funny, but always incisive, this collection of stories examines the survival of those whose only certainty is dysfunction.