Four of the eleven stories ("The Bullies", "Spring Fugue", "What I Do for Money", and "Dumbness is Everything") were originally printed in The New Yorker and one ("Religion") in Glimmer Train, from 1986 to 1996. The Runaway Soul stories are from the perspective of that novel's protagonist, Wiley Silenowicz.
Four of the eleven stories originated in The New Yorker and one in Glimmer Train, with the Runaway Soul stories being written from the viewpoint of Wiley Silenowicz.