Summary

A series of vignettes told from different perspectives, at different times, with seemingly no connection, “A Quarter of a Hundred Apocalypses” is the first of the three parts of Corin’s final story, “A Hundred Apocalypses.” As the subtitle, “Hands Out for a New Future,” suggests, this collection of vignettes is primarily concerned with how the end of the world provides an opportunity to refashion oneself and the world at large.

In this sequence, Corin’s stories range in length, the longest being two to three pages and the shortest being a single paragraph. The first story, “Fresh,” features a narrator who confesses,” I kept asking for it. I was asking for the apocalypse,” going on to say, “I was looking forward to a fresh everything” (77). The next story, “Cake...