Sherry, a self-destructive makeup saleswoman, hopes a new man and business venture will provide her a fresh start. After her plans are foiled, she takes control of her life in a dramatic turn of events.

Philosophy professor Walter Zarrow is wounded during a mugging. In an effort to escape he rings buzzers indiscriminately, waking Sam, a middle aged father of two having an affair in the city. Sam reluctantly answers Zarrow's pleas, and Zarrow loses consciousness in his arms. Through an exploration of why these men, along with the mugger, and an addict named Joe, come together, we explore New York City. The experience of Zarrow, Sam, Joe and Zarrow's assailant ripple quickly out to include the connected lives of a housewife struggling with alcoholism, a stoner teen desperate to lose his virginity, a brilliant but failed writer fighting addiction, two parents confronting the prospect of terminal illness, and a brilliant grad student who wounds herself to feel alive.

Oren Little has turned his back on all his neighbors and shunned the notion of being kind to others after the death of his wife. Next door neighbor Leah has put her soul, and her tears, into her stagnant singing career after the death of her husband. But then Oren's son shows up needing Oren to take care of his daughter Sarah. Oren has no patience for children, Leah never had any of her own, but 9-year-old Sarah just might be the spark that allows these two lonely souls to turn their home into a Little Shangri-La.

Based on several of the "Molly; An American Girl" books, this story is set in 1943 in the fictional town of Jefferson, Illinois during World War II. Molly McIntire and her family are learning to cope with the changes the war has brought to their close-knit family. Molly misses her father who went overseas to care for the wounded soldiers. As they try to keep things running smoothly, Molly enters a dance contest at school. She and her friends are lively, outgoing and always bursting with ideas. Also during this time a young girl named Emily comes from London England to live with the family and Molly learns the importance of getting along and pulling together.

Small-town detective Noah Cordin is called to solve a juvenile homicide that occurred during a home burglary in his affluent town of Hilliard. The dead boy's mother, Allison Connor, is a member of the Meskada County Board of Commissioners, and a powerful woman in Hilliard; and the entire township rallies together in solidarity - to support her and Detective Cordin's efforts to find the killers.

Underachieving, overweight kindergarten teacher Dex finds a woman who forces him to reexamine his Zen-like system of seduction.

Early in 1971, McGraw-Hill passes on Clifford Irving's new novel. He's desperate for money, so, against the backdrop of Nixon's reelection calculations, Irving claims he has Howard Hughes's cooperation to write Hughes's autobiography. With the help of friend Dick Suskind, Irving does research, lucks into a manuscript written by a long-time Hughes associate, and plays on corporate greed. He's quick-thinking and outrageously bold. Plus, he banks on Hughes's reluctance to enter the public eye. At the same time, he's trying to rebuild his marriage and deflect the allure of his one-time mistress, Nina Van Pallandt. Can he write a good book, take the money, and pull off the hoax?