Four mostly unrelated and rueful short stories about mice, dissidents and soup -- two, centrally devoted to very bad puns.

As a teen, Brian fled his home, joining the Army with the hope he could leave a brutal upbringing to the past. The service allowed him to gain an education, and that led to a job at a small data-processing company in Detroit. He found moderate success, while there, but his increasingly erratic behavior began to draw concern from co-workers, who struggled to find ways to help. Circumstances and a brewing workplace malevolence brought Brian's conduct to the forefront and his employer's direct intervention - a move that slammed closed doors he'd struggled through, but ultimately, opened up new...