animals is a collection micro-stories and flash fiction (short-short stories, most of them under 500 words), brief stories that are all told from the same voice, and that focus on brief connections made with unique characters, quirky outsiders living for transcendent moments, trying to make soul connections. Roughly a third of the stories are new; others are reprinted from Paul Rogalus' first two micro-story collections, Meat Sculptures and Electrified Skeletons, now out of print. As was noted in the original publisher's description of Electrified Skeletons: "Rogalus writes about the weirdness of everyday life with sardonic humor and gritty realism. You know the unforgettable people in his micro-stories like you know that tough dude you went to school with or that barfly who always puts you on edge."