Introduction -- Faces of madness / Rachel Ingalls -- The sledding party / Steven Millhauser -- Graduation / Andre Dubus -- The most beautiful woman in town / Charles Bukowski -- Innocence / Harold Brodkey -- A romantic weekend / Mary Gaitskill -- Morning / Joyce Carol Oates -- Jewel of the moon / William Kotzwinkle -- The Costa Brava, 1959 / Ward Just -- An interest in life / Grace Paley -- Houses / David Leavitt -- Come to Africa and save your marriage / Maria Thomas -- The lover / Alice Walker -- Safe houses / Nadine Gordimer -- Frank and Billy / Laurie Colwin -- Love song, for a moog synthesizer / John Updike -- The love object / Edna O'Brien -- Instruments of seduction / Norman Rush -- The habit of loving / Doris Lessing -- Letter to the lady of the house / Richard Bausch.