Many of the stories in Joyful, Sorrowful and Ordinary Mysteries are faintly spiritual in that some connection gets made - either by a guru, a beaver, a priest, a smart grandfather - guiding the main character into new adventures and a greater knowledge of him or herself.

They involve a quest: to have passion in order to be a better writer, to fight for free speech, to save a co-worker who is unfairly targeted to lose their job, take a great risk to raise a vast amount of money for earthquake relief in Italy, repent a seemingly righteous murder.

The characters in Joyful, Sorrowful and Ordinary Mysteries are imperfect and unconventional with an approach to life that can raise more questions than it answers. Nobody does the expected in these stories, and in some way, nobody is fearful of acting out their deepest selves. The stories are unpredictable and quite varied, but they share a common thread of people seeking accuracy in their life and to know what they are supposed to be doing.

The characters likability and how and where they look for satisfaction is why we root for them as they work for their success.

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