Show Don't Tell

This collection of 12 short stories explores the inner lives of mostly middle-aged characters as they reckon with desire, status, self-deception, and the gap between who they believe themselves to be and who they actually are.

In "Show Don't Tell," Ruthie Flaherty, a first-year graduate writing student in 1998, obsessively awaits her fellowship results while navigating a breakup with a classmate, conflict with Lorraine, her downstairs neighbor who is writing a memoir, and heated debates about talent among her cohort. At one in the morning, she discovers she has received the prestigious Peaslee Fellowship, and Lorraine rushes out to embrace her. An epilogue set roughly 20 years later reveals Ruthie became a bestselling novelist, while a dismissive classmate, at a chance meeting in Portland, insists most of their peers are not real writers.

"The Marriage Clock" follows Heather Theisen, a senior vice president of film production, who flies to Mobile, Alabama, to persuade Brock Lewis, author of the bestselling self-help book The Marriage Clock, to allow a gay couple in its film adaptation. Brock proves unexpectedly warm, and an intimate moment on a boat trip stirs desire in Heather, whose own marriage has grown hollow. Brock retreats, and the film stalls. Back home, Heather's husband, Nick, proposes they follow the book's prescriptive advice. She agrees, and over time the regimen revives their marriage.

In "White Women LOL," Jill Gershin, a white suburban mother, approaches a group of Black strangers at her friend Amy's 40th birthday party, believing them to be uninvited guests, and asks them to leave. One woman records the exchange; the next day, Ronald William Fitzsimmons IV, an art curator, posts the video on Facebook. The video goes locally viral, and Jill is dubbed "Vodka Vicky" and suspended from work. Weeks later, trying to help catch a neighbor's lost dog, Jill lies on frozen ground whimpering to lure the animal. What begins as performance becomes genuine sorrow.

"The Richest Babysitter in the World" is narrated by Kit, who in 1997 takes a babysitting job for Diane and Bryan Woley and their three-year-old daughter, Sophie. Bryan, exuberant and Harvard-educated, has founded an internet sales company called Pangaea, a clear analog of Amazon. He offers Kit a job twice; she declines both times. She moves to Tucson with her housemate Kevin, discovers he is gay, pivots to speech-language pathology, and becomes a tenured professor. Over the decades, Bryan becomes the richest man in the world, and Kit reflects on the moral compromises of ordinary life.

"Creative Differences" follows Ben Schneider, a freelance film producer, who travels to Wichita to film Melissa Simon, a 24-year-old photographer, for a toothpaste brand's documentary that is functionally a commercial. Melissa, the least famous of 10 featured artists, realizes the project's true nature and accuses the crew of deception. Ben earns her trust over coffee by sharing his own passion project, a documentary about Diego Ruiz, a blind Cuban man in the Bronx, but Melissa ultimately withdraws, revealing she never signed the contract. The campaign succeeds with nine subjects. Diego dies years later with Ben's footage unwatched.

In "Follow-Up," Janie, a 51-year-old assistant general counsel, receives an ambiguous mammogram result and spends the weekend texting her best friend, Pippa, in Albuquerque. Janie's marriage to David, a man she chose partly for embodying her youthful status markers, is passionless. A flashback recounts a single intense night with Silas, a barista, just before Janie married David. Her imaging reveals a benign cyst, and in the relief, she confesses to Pippa about Silas, only to learn he died years earlier. The story ends with Janie asking herself what her life is a story about: a passionless marriage, or the preciousness of adoring two people, Pippa and her son Evan, even if neither is her spouse.

"The Tomorrow Box" centers on Andy Wofford, a 52-year-old English teacher at the private school where his father was headmaster. Andy receives an email from Michael Kinnick, a college acquaintance who became a world-famous self-help guru. Andy's old friend group has nicknamed Michael "Anus." At their meeting, Michael reveals he always looked up to Andy and was hurt not to be invited to Andy's wedding. Andy, who has no savings, reflects on what constitutes an enviable life. At home, his seven-year-old daughter, Isabel, calls him upstairs to show him the bright moon.

"A for Alone" follows Irene Larsen, a Minneapolis textile artist, as she undertakes a project inviting married men to lunch and asking them about the Billy Graham Rule, the practice of never being alone with a woman other than one's wife. Her sixth subject, Jack Deahl, a geologist, proves unexpectedly captivating and confesses he has been unhappy in his marriage for years. They begin an affair that is exposed when Jack's wife reads an affectionate email. Months later, Irene's friend Maude tells her it is odd that she has decided Mike Pence gets to dictate how she lives.

"The Patron Saints of Middle Age" finds Jess, a recently divorced guidance counselor, returning to St. Louis for her former mother-in-law's memorial. She stays with her best friend, Allison, a Black single mother. Jess is haunted by a Saint Joseph figurine she forgot to dig up from her old yard, fearing it will bring misfortune to the new owners. Allison is nervously preparing to sleep with a new partner after decades of avoidance, and Jess offers frank advice. That night, Jess walks to her old house and digs in the mulch, reflecting on altruism, privilege, and need.

In "Giraffe and Flamingo," Emily, a professional violist, tells her children about her senior year at a music conservatory, where she lived with her roommate Chloe and six male athletes. Five of the athletes pursued Chloe, while one, John Olney, systematically harassed Emily. Near graduation, Olney called her instrument a "stupid fucking violin," and she corrected him: "It's not a violin. It's a viola." Years later, she learns Olney has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and considers sending him a T-shirt from Giraffe and Flamingo, a shop in her neighborhood of Olneyville. She remains undecided.

"The Hug" takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020. Daphne tells her husband, Rob, that her ex-boyfriend Theo will pass through St. Louis and she plans to hug him. Rob objects, citing germs and jealousy. When Daphne meets Theo, she returns and reports she did not hug him: Theo wanted no physical contact, sitting 10 feet away and delivering a self-absorbed monologue. She tells Rob she wishes they either liked each other more or were bothered enough to change. Rob walks to her and holds her. After several seconds, she hugs him back.

The final story, "Lost But Not Forgotten," follows Lee Fiora, a 48-year-old nonprofit director, at her 30th reunion at Ault, the elite boarding school where she was a scholarship student from Indiana. Lee has kept a secret for decades: During her sophomore year, Bryce Finley, lead singer of the famous band Formica Dream and a former student expelled from Ault, wandered into her dorm room during his reunion and cried on the roof about fame. Lee, who had never kissed anyone, impulsively kissed him, and he gently pulled away. Bryce died of an accidental combined drug intoxication in 2003. At the reunion, Lee connects with Jeff Oltiss, who reveals he witnessed her father slap her during parents' weekend and spent the rest of school watching for her. On the chapel steps, Lee finally tells the Bryce story to Jeff and their classmate Dede Schwartz Faber, who receive it with warmth. Jeff touches his pinky to Lee's. An epilogue reveals Jeff eventually moved into Lee's house, where they share an ordinary life she describes as thrilling.