"Music for Evenings" is a set of three long stories that do not constitute a unified thematic arc or conventional plot line. Extremely minimal links exist between the three stories, which are otherwise independent of one another. "Borderline," a three-part narrative with fantastical and heavily satirical elements, begins and ends the book. "Charlie," which is inserted between parts 1 and 2 of "Borderline," traces the career of a gifted young sculptor whose professional fortunes flourish even as his personal life deteriorates. "Rose and Nicole," which precedes part 3 of "Borderline," follows the lives of a two-woman family: Nicole, the mother, is a gifted, semi-professional watercolorist and her daughter, Rose, a (professional) flute virtuoso.