The Husband Stitch
The narrator marries the love of her teenage years and lives happily with him under one condition: He is not to untie the ribbon that she has around her neck. When their son is old enough to move out, the couple makes love. After being pressured by her husband, the narrator finally allows him to remove her ribbon, but as soon as it is untied, her head falls off.
Inventory
This chapter is a list of all the partners that the narrator had, including a short description of each one. Some of the descriptions reveal how a deadly virus has spread over the world.
Mothers
The narrator is handed a baby by her friend Bad, who simply states that she delivered a baby and it now belongs to the narrator. Dumbfounded, the narrator is reminded of the abusive relationship she had with Bad. They name the baby Mara. The narrator takes Mara on a trip, but when they return home, their house looks as if it has aged significantly. In the end, the narrator is visited by Mara, who appears to be 10 or 11 years old, her parents, and her brother.
Especially Heinous
This chapter lists the summaries of alternative plots of the TV show Law and Order: SVU. Detective Benson and Stabler try to solve the case of a murdered woman.
Real Women Have Bodies
While working at the fashion store Glam, the narrator discovers that faded women have been sewn into the dresses that Petra delivers to the store regularly. After the narrator quits her job at the fashion store, Petra also starts to fade. Petra brings her to a motel, which is owned by her mother, and eventually shows her the room where the dresses are made. The room is full of fading women but they do not move even though the narrator tries to save them.
Eight Bites
Encouraged by her sisters, the narrator undergoes surgery to reduce the size of her stomach because she wants to become slim and beautiful. Soon after, she discovers that the ghost of her old body still lingers around the house. She lives with the ghost until--close to her death--she realizes how cruel she was to it.
The Resident
An aspiring writer is accepted at a retreat for artists located on a lake in the mountains. Being an introvert, she spends most of her time in her assigned cabin and works on her novel. Walking around the lake, she discovers the same spot that she camped at as a girl scout. When she shares her draft with the other artists, it is rejected because of the lack of originality. Shortly after, she leaves the residence and returns home to her wife, challenging the reader not to judge her.
Difficult at Parties
After a traumatic event, a woman is living in insecurity. Paul, who seems to be her partner, tries to comfort her as best as he can but she does not accept his help. She feels uncomfortable at a party, which Paul wrongly thought would be a good idea to socialize and recover her mental health. Later the woman orders porn DVDs in an attempt to overcome her distress; however, she starts hearing the internal monologues of the actors. Her recovery process seems to improve once she starts recording herself and her partner with a camera that she has stolen from the party.
