He was the kind of guy who was great at parties, as long as he didn't tell you the truth

This collection of short stories and poems deals with people in crisis. In their worst moments of doubt and need – can they fix whatever it is that’s burying them? Over the course of nine stories, most of them with female protagonists, love, death, fear of embracement, insanity, suicide, and redemption are explored. These are people trying to find not only the keys to unlock their chains, but the sources of them. The final story in the collection, The Dirty Parade, is unlike the rest. It is a dark, sexually violent story, about a pornographer, Nicholas Parade, who creates a utopian society. Truth be told, the author doesn't care for it. In fact, he thinks it great folly to put it in this collection, since it has nothing to do with the other stories. However, it has to go someplace, so.