Groups of nine are trapped in the visa office at an indian consulate after a massive earthquake in an american city two visa officers on the verge of an adulterous affair; jiang, a chinese-indian woman in her last years; her gifted teenage granddaughter lily; an ex-soldier haunted by guilt; uma, an indian-american girl bewildered by her parents' decision to return to kolkata after twenty years; tariq, a young muslim man angry with the new america; and an enraged and bitter elderly white couple as they wait to be rescued-or to die-they begin to tell each other stories, each recalling 'one amazing thing' in their life, sharing things they have never spoken of before their tales are tragic and life-affirming, revealing what it means to be human and the incredible power of storytelling - from Amzon