The protagonists of Miller's stories tend to be slackers, self-centered underdogs, or victims of fate. They have difficulty relating to others and holding on to jobs and relationships. In the title story, a grad-school dropout loses his girlfriend to a roller derby league before contemplating (and eventually failing at) a suicide attempt. In another story, a man loses his job and ends up letting go of everything else in his life, including his friends, neighbours, and ultimately his wife, as he watches a parade float lose control and catch fire from his balcony. Then there's a man who dreads the arrival of his ex-wife, who is dropping off their son for a visit, while his neighbourhood is in turmoil after a recent bear attack. These men tend to be survivors who fail to see how fortunate they are, and who watch helplessly as their lives fall apart, but only because they fail to act.