Stories that look deeply at pure sexual relationships are At Least One Good Thing, Light and Silver, and Working it Out. These stories explore everything from the first sexual experience for a character to the continued nonchalant experiences of one girl and her fuck buddy. The stories include people of different ages which makes it easy to relate to for the reader. Although there is very little actual sexual activity, there is a lot of talk about it. Bryson tends to be a little blunt in his commentary about sexual relationships and there is a bitterness when he reflects on sexual relationships which have failed, as in the story Parents.
Love seems to play a part in all of the stories in one way or another.
Whether it s the love of two people who are main characters or not, Bryson incorporates this aspect. This becomes easy to associate to as a reader because the reader will have probably experienced love or a loss of love long before ever picking up the collection of stories. When someone has lost a loved one, some of the stories are even easier to relate to because of the sentimental value which Bryson has integrated well into the text. It can almost break your heart all over again. There are several stories that might remind the reader of television shows.