Marian Seldes

A band of international crooks hides a stolen military computer chip in a toy car, but an airport mix-up puts it in the hands of whiz-kid Alex Pruitt. When the criminals zero in on him, he sets an array of ambushes and booby traps.

"Tells the straightforward history of the renowned Ballets Russes troupe from 1929 until its demise in 1962, providing ... commentary, as well as tidbits on ballet aesthetics, backstage gossip and clip after clip of rare footage. It also ... offers portraits of the handful of surviving dancers, most of them in their 80s, who provide its commentary. After a brief review of [the Diaghilev years (1909-29)], it tells the tale of the company after Diaghilev,...

Vicki Miller (Marcia Gay Harden) is a writer who has cut herself off from her dysfunctional family. Her life drastically changes when one night, her 16-year-old nephew Bobby (Taylor Handley) shows up unannounced on her doorstep. He looks tired and depressed, and when Vicki realizes that he's run away, she takes him in. From that point on, Vicki is bound to Bobby. This story tells the tale of two people trying to find themselves and make their way...

Inga is a poet. She wants to buy and restore a house she is drawn to that reminds her of her childhood home, but her distant husband Hermann sees little value in it or many of the things Inga loves. Her crumbling marrigae is a stark contrast to the relationship that she shares with her 8-year-old daughter, with whom she shares her hopes, fears and inner-most thoughts following her recovery from breast cancer. By day their lives seem magical, but at...

Six ballerinas -- Mary Ellen Moylan, Maria Tallchief, Melissa Hayden, Allegra Kent, Merrill Ashley, and Darci Kistler -- keep alive Balanchine's ballets and the inspiration they learned from him. They also discuss other Balanchine dancers, such as Tanaquil Le Clercq and Suzanne Farrell. Balanchine was the single most powerful influence in their lives.

Set in different decades in the same house, these stories of three lesbian couples each reflect a specific concern. In 1961, Abby and Edith, two retired schoolteachers, lead a quiet life. Abby has a stroke and dies, and her nephew and his wife come for the funeral and to sort and sell Abby's things, unaware that she and Edith were a lifelong couple. In 1972, four college-age lesbians share the house. They have problems with the campus feminism...

From silly chuckles and rueful ironic glee to deep cosmic laughter, this new volume of humorous tales samples the best of recent seasons of the popular public radio series, "Selected shorts."