How did Mrs. Grankvist's daughter die? What does it cost to make a pumpkin pie? What secret does Vittorio Vespucci's smile conceal? How did Professor Roman Bloch grant his own dying wish? What did a man see in the mysterious Mirror? What did the encounter with Noriko Shimada lead to? Why are we skilled constructors? What are the best memories? What can a plane trip lead to?
Stella Canis and the eight other short stories introduce the reader to a number of questions in which life alternates between the constructed and the unpredictable, in spite of the predictable motion of time and the planets.