Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories. I don't feel it is worthwhile to summarize most of these stories since they are, for the most part, 10 or fewer pages and can be read in a matter of minutes. On the whole, however, this book follows 15 different people, or groups of people, in the city of Dublin, Ireland. Their stories are only loosely connected, if at all.

The longest of the stories, "The Dead", follows a young man Gabriel as he participates in an extravagant party thrown by his aunts. After the party, he and his wife stay in a hotel where he, caught up with a burning passion to make love after the party and the cold cab ride, finds his wife overcome with grief. A song sung at the end of the party reminds her of a young man she loved when she was young. He died after a trip to see her in the rain, where he confessed his love for her and begged her not to leave for the convent.