Short Story by Jane Bowles. An American woman living alone in Morocco is befriended by a Moslem woman who leads her to a room where other Moslem women ask questions about her life. Uncomfortable about the personal nature of the questions, she refuses their offer of refreshments and abruptly leaves.
Short Story by Patricia Grace. A woman who has lived alone for fifteen years after her husband’s death copes by imagining him as a star watching over her at night. She lives a spartan, contented life, watchful for visitors who never come and listening for a telephone that never rings.
Novelette by Francisco Sionil José. A tragic love story between members of two rival, pre-colonial Filipino tribes highlights major themes of identity and personal freedom, the opportunity cost of cultural hostilities, and how corrupt rulers can entrench their position by encouraging fear of an enemy.
Short Story by Joseph Conrad. An English naval captain encounters a trading ship which he suspects is a privateer supplying fuel to enemy U-boats. With no legal basis for seizing the ship, he finds a way to send it and all on board to their doom without firing a shot.
Quick Read by László Krasznahorkai. Unable to come to terms with the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center collapse, a narrator argues that the root cause was a vast destructive power that arrived on earth simultaneously with mankind and releases itself in cycles of destruction and renewal.