A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do.
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation.
Jim Glover is an engineer in charge of constructing a railroad to the sea. He gives the company president Gage a tour of the area of land coveted for its use as a short cut that can save hours on the journey.
Eun-a, who was living a happy life with her family, loses everything to a psychopath serial killer. After the tragic incident, she gathers four people with different talents who are in need of organ transplants to achieve her revenge.
Lili is twenty years old, has an English mother, a magician father, a voice from elsewhere and a gift that only children know: the power of her own desire.
A fire chief is investigating the cause of a string of blazes that threaten to destroy her small town, while at the same time dealing with her teen daughter's rebelliousness.
A foreword warns against the peril of yellow journalism, and the story illustrates it by following events in the upstate New York town of Cornwall after prominant financier George Ferguson is killed.