Colin thinks about his dead grandfather and the demise of his marriage while he undergoes surgery; Leah tries to have a bath while angels laugh at her; Justin nervously serves drinks to a non-member at a Private Businessmen's Club; Liz has a neighbour who can tell people's fortunes by looking at the indents in their beds; Marci and Ian battle cockroaches while entertaining in their student apartment; and Anika receives bizarre photographs from an anonymous fan. In this first collection of short fiction, Michael Trussler meticulously observes the human experience, painting a portrait of ordinary life as a collision between the bizarre and the prosaic. The characters in each tableau encounter their own strengths and limitations due to circumstances beyond their control. With "Encounters", Trussler delves into the lives of a handful of contemporary urban dwellers from a variety of backgrounds, relating their stories with realism and self-awareness.