Hoping to regain her self-confidence, Abby travels to Ireland in the company of her mother, who knows exactly what her daughter is doing wrong and how to live her life. Eileen mourns her beloved cat, but everyone around her is convinced that she's really grieving for something else - you can't kill an animal like that! A young couple's world falls apart when the woman notices a red stain on the baby's nappy. Hollywood actress gives up her career and shortens her days in a provincial motel, consoling herself with sherry and a relationship with a car mechanic, sex with whom is much more pleasant than talking ...

'Birds of America' - twelve short stories Lorrie Moore, who ensured the writer's status as a modern classic. With her inherent wit, insight and dark humour Moore introduces readers to confused, desperate, lonely people. There are only such people here, and each is unhappy in his or her own way.