This collection of six short stories begins with "e;Blackout-o-three,"e; an account of one person's experience of the power failure in New York City in 2003 and the strange social unraveling that took place during its short interval. Five other stories, all set in New York, herald the gritty mystery of that City in a series of poignant, funny and moving vignettes and slices of life. The five other stories are titled (in order): Chinatown. Subway preacher. A distant murder. Bus along Fifth Avenue. What if they gave a fiftieth birthday party and nobody came?