Introduction / Larry Smith -- Flash / Caroline Paul -- Chalk face / AJ Jacobs -- Shot / Dean Karnazes -- The envelope / Mo Clancy -- Love in a time of illness / Diane Ackerman -- Subdued by stroke / Paul West -- Table time / Laurie David -- Tattoo / Summer Pierre -- The killer in me / Michael Paterniti -- To worry / Amy Sohn -- Near miss / Kirk Citro -- Mom's favorite movie of all time / Craig A. Williams -- A piece / Melissa Etheridge -- Unexpected pleasure / Jonathan Papernick -- Someday / Michael Forster Rothbart -- No consolation / Neal Pollack -- CheckPoints / Alaa Majeed & David Enders -- Make love, not war / Jeremy Toback -- Thank you, Lionel Richie / Matt Dojny -- Assembly / Vivian Chum -- The calling / Baratunde Thurston -- Missed call / Annie Leahy -- Wicked start / Gregory Maguire -- Momento mori / Adam Rensch -- The secret life of parents / Elizabeth Gilbert -- John Updike sent me a fan letter (once) / Steve Almond -- C-listed / Mary Elizabeth Williams -- 5RLG375 / Chris Sacca -- My blue sticky / Fiona Maazel -- Lives / Tao Lin -- Teachable moment / Bill Ayers -- Disappointment / Nevenka Kurjakovic -- Divine intervention / Dan Goggin -- Poem for the moment / Matthew Zapruder -- Mr. Criche / Dave Eggers -- Cornrows / Lori Sabian -- Dancing, in green, to Ravel / Ellen O'Connell -- Fluke / Danny Davis -- Persephone / Micah Toub -- Trash / Rigoberto González -- Gonzo girl / Cheryl Della Pietra -- Rimshot / Josh Axelrad -- TITLE TK / Piper Kerman -- Black like me / Haylee Harrel -- Kitchen confidential / Michael Castleman -- Horns / Shalom Auslander -- What would Roland do? / Benjamin Percy -- Fearless flyer / Ashley Van Buren -- Hobo beginnings / Dale Maharidge -- Why I adopted my son / Christoph Marshall -- Why I adopted my dad / Eddie Comacho -- Running / Mira Ptacin -- At first sight / L. Nichols -- Piazza San Marco / Julian Voloj -- First kiss / Scott Muska -- The Crüe / Sara Lovelace -- Uncaged / Alan Rabinowitz -- To the rescue / Ellen Sussman -- The shed / Colin Nissan -- Curtain call / Attila Kalamar -- Photo finish / Kimberly Rose -- True calm / Laura Cathcart Robbins -- Wally & Beaver / Jeff Church -- The sign / Caitlin Roper -- The thin envelope / Sascha Rothchild -- Liner notes / Elizabeth Jayne Liu -- If I don't die today, I will marry Kristin Moore / Aaron Huey -- Boot camp / Wes Moore -- Sunset Strip / Christine MacDonald -- Truth, lies, and audiotape / Dan Baum -- Stage Direction / Saïd Sayrafiezadeh -- February 12, 2009, 9:14 am / Daniel DiClerico -- Balls out / James Cañón -- Marooned / Kristen Cosby -- Swerved / Darin Strauss -- Meeting Allen Ginsberg / Steve Silberman -- Those old keys / Alan Cheuse -- Mission accomplished / Brian Evenson -- Tell me how this ends / Pat Callahan -- Keepsake / Jennifer Egan -- E-3: October 25, 1986 / Molly Lawless -- Landing / Paul Miller -- The verdict / Byron Case -- Nine lives / Peter Kuper -- My front line / Jessica Lutz -- Instructions / Julie Metz -- Two fays / Dawn McMullin -- 2.10.01 / Julia Halprin Jackson -- Like James Brown / Adrianne Frost -- Crying for their dog / Richard Ferguson -- The quest / Ramona Pringle -- Early dismissal / Robin Wasserman -- Burning up / Qraig R. de Groot -- Maiden days / Judy Collins -- Just a man / Nadja Cada -- Motherless / Tamara Pokrupa-Nahanni -- The ripple effect / Anthony Doerr -- Positively 93rd Street / Matthew Leader -- Smack talk / Melissa Febos -- Firecracker / Arthur Suydam -- The silver harmonica / Andrew D. Scrimgeour -- Denial / Kathy Ritchie -- Mercy / Steve Anthony Leasure -- The hidden dangers of blood magic / Robert Joseph Levy -- Blogging towards oblivion / Emily Steinberg -- Sleeping bag / Hope Rehak -- Trusting eyes / Jami Kempen -- Ingress/egress / Jessica Anya Blau -- Punchlines & knockouts / Patrick Sauer -- Head case / Noah Scalin -- In pursuit of optimism / Tony Schwartz -- Far side / Katie Killacky -- Grandma's dildo / Sara Barron -- Oprah calling / Ray Richmond -- Vietnam, revisited / Karol Nielsen -- Conversation with my dad / Ashley Allen -- Season's greetings / Ellen Jantzen -- Revisionist history / Catherine Murdock -- Forgiven / Jennifer Thompson -- Second chance / Jerry Ma -- Moving on / Mary Valle -- Birth / John B. Carnett -- The moth and the window / Stephen Tobolowsky -- Tomorrowland / Rebecca Woolf.