Summary

“Why Won’t Women Just Say What They Want” (114) is about an unnamed famous artist who wronged many people in his life. The story is told by a third-person omniscient narrator. At the beginning of the story, the artist’s public absence had led to a running joke that he had fallen into a volcano, started by the “Model/Actress Who Dated Him a While Ago” (115).

The artist reemerged through public mass apologies to those he had harmed. The “High School Sweetheart” (116) received an apology over a PA system at the grocery store where she was shopping. The “Model/Actress” (116) received hers on billboards. The apology to the “Long-Suffering Ex-wife” (116) was in the form of a short film. The “Daughter’s” (116) apology was on Instagram. The “On-Again Off-Again Ex of His Wayward Youth” (116) found her apology...