Eighteen stories about people in prisons of their own devise—childhood awakenings; coming-of-age quandaries; ironical comeuppances; criminal excesses; personal compulsions.

In "Mister Barnes or Mister Noble?" a timid woman stands up to an overbearing man who is harassing her lifelong friend.

In "The Bear in the Mimosa Tree," two children, out of boredom, seek out the "crazy man" in the neighborhood.

Screenwriters launch a sneaky gambit to assure their script gets read in "Pulling a Kissinger."

A smitten young man comes to grips with the idiosyncrasies of his girlfriend in "The Thing About Ophelia."

In "See How You Like Us Tomorrow," an obsessed female cop goes postal on all truckers after being abducted by one.

And in the title story, a nobody escapes his boring job at a New York publishing firm by dumpster-diving for a best-seller.