The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Bender, Aimee. The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. New York: Anchor Books, 1999.

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt is a collection of 16 short stories by Aimee Bender.

“The Remember” is narrated by a woman named Annie. Her boyfriend, Ben, is going through a process called ‘reverse evolution,’ meaning he is transforming into decreasingly ‘advanced’ animals. He eventually becomes a salamander, and Annie releases him into the sea, realizing that their relationship is at an end.

“Call My Name” follows an unnamed narrator. She is from a wealthy family, and she enjoys pursuing men romantically. One day, she wears a luxurious dress and rides in a subway car. She starts a conversation with a man and follows him to his apartment. She asks to come up to his apartment, but she is frustrated when she does not want to have sex with him. She struggles with loneliness, and she decides to simply watch TV with him for the time being.

“What You Left in the Ditch” is narrated by a woman named Mary. Her husband, Steven, returns home after fighting as a soldier in a war. Due to a combat injury, he no longer has lips. Mary is devastated by this loss, and she worries that they will no longer be able to connect physically. She becomes attracted to a man who works at a nearby grocery store. She kisses the man, after which she feels remorse, but she also still feels worried about the future of her marriage.

In “The Bowl,” the unnamed protagonist suddenly receives an anonymous package, apparently as a gift. She opens it and finds a bowl. Around the same time, her boss dies, and she is unsure how to feel about the death. She disliked her boss, but she does not like the idea of being glad about someone’s death. Soon after, an unfamiliar man arrives at the protagonist’s home and says that the bowl belongs to him. The protagonist watches helplessly as he takes the bowl and leaves.

“Marzipan” is narrated by a ten-year-old child. She has an older sister and two parents. One week after the narrator’s paternal grandfather dies, the narrator’s father awakes with a large and mysterious hole in his torso. He has no resulting health problems, but the family is confused and disconcerted by the hole. Later, the narrator’s mother becomes pregnant. When she gives birth, the result is not a baby, but an elderly woman. The narrator’s mother recognizes the woman as her own recently deceased mother. The family takes the grandmother to their home, where they all eat dinner together and attempt to adjust to the implications of this strange turn of events.

“Quiet Please” follows a woman who works as a librarian. Her father recently died, and she is in the throes of grief. As a possible coping mechanism, she decides to have sex with every man in the library. She seduces men one at a time and brings them to a back room to have sex with her. One of the men is a strongman with a traveling circus. Instead of having sex with the librarian, he lifts her in the air, causing a general commotion in the library. The next day, the librarian attends her father’s funeral.

“Skinless” takes place at a home for troubled and runaway teenagers. One of the employees is Jill, a woman in her twenties. She is Jewish, and she is emotionally devastated by a recent breakup. One of the residents of the home is Renny, a 17-year-old boy who is anti-Semitic and a white supremacist. Despite these facts, Jill and Renny begin to develop romantic and sexual feelings towards each other. The story ends with Jill and Renny holding each other during an organized trust exercise.

“Fugue” follows an antisocial misanthropic man who enjoys purposely doing jobs incorrectly, especially if he can harm other people. One day, he robs his boss, at gunpoint, in the boss’ home. The man takes some of the boss’ belongings, and he forces the boss’ wife to come with him. He soon abandons the wife. The woman dislikes her husband, so instead of going home, she wanders to a nearby house, where the occupants let her rest for a while.

“Drunken Mimi” takes place at a high school. One of the students is an imp, and one is a mermaid. They disguise the fact that they are magical creatures. The mermaid's name is Mimi, and hr hair is sensitive to outside stimuli. One day, the imp places her hair in beer, and she becomes drunk. They eventually develop an attraction towards each other, each perhaps sensing that the other is not human. The story ends with the imp and mermaid lying in the grass in front of the school as the imp strokes the mermaid’s hair.

“Fell This Girl” follows a woman named Susie. She meets a man named Patrick at a party. They go back to Patrick’s apartment and sleep together. Susie’s feelings for Patrick soon become intense, while his remain somewhat natural. Susie calls her sister, who is often depressed and lonely. Susie then meets a middle-aged man in a bar and has sex with him, but she feels sad and lonely during the experience.

“The Healer” follows two teenage girls who live in a small town. One has a hand made of fire, and the other has a hand made of ice. When they hold hands, the fire and ice neutralize each other, causing the hands to become normal. They are friends for a while, but they eventually grow apart. The ice girl becomes beloved by the townspeople when it is discovered that her ice heals people’s ailments. Meanwhile, the fire girl becomes increasingly alienated as people become increasingly fearful of her fire.

“Loser” follows a teenage boy whose parents accidentally died while swimming. He grieves for his parents and feels very lonely. He discovers that he has the power to sense the locations of lost objects. He occasionally helps people with his powers, and he even locates a kidnapped child. Many people praise him for this heroic act, but he still feels lonely, and he still grieves for his parents.

“Legacy” follows a young pregnant woman who goes to live with her step-uncle. He lives in a castle and has a hunchback. They develop a romantic/sexual relationship, but she runs away after discovering that his hunch is fake. She develops a relationship with a man who has no legs. She eventually gives broth to a daughter, with whom she was pregnant before living with her step-uncle. The daughter grows up to be a famous actress. One day, her career ends when a hunch suddenly grows on her back. The actress unexpectedly expresses gratitude for this development.

In “Dreaming in Polish,” an elderly married couple finds that they often have identical dreams whenever they sleep at the same time. Some of these dreams appear to be prophesies of minor misfortunes in town. The married couple is originally from Poland. One of the town’s resident’s is a Jewish teenager named Celia. Celia’s mother is obsessed with visiting Holocaust museums, and Celia’s father is often sickly. One day, Celia’s mother decides to walk all the way to Washington, D.C. to go to the Holocaust museum. She phones her husband and asks him to travel by train to meet her there.

In “The Ring,” a woman falls in love with a burglar and begins to accompany him on his burglaries. One day, they steal a ring from a house. It has a red gem in it, and the robber uses the ring to propose marriage to the woman. She accepts. Later, they discover that the ring has the mysterious power to turn certain substances red. One day, while on vacation, she loses the ring while swimming in the ocean. The water turns red. The woman is devastated at the loss of the ring and worries that it is an omen that her marriage to the robber will fail.

“The Girl in the Flammable Skirt” is narrated by a teenage girl. She lives with her father, who is sickly. One day, she finds him wearing a backpack made of stone. She tries to persuade him to put it down, but he refuses. She wonders if her father’s symptoms are genuine or if they are the product of his own mind. She wonders, in an abstract way, how she would feel if her father died. She wonders if her grief would be tinged at all by a feeling of personal freedom/relief.