TABLE OF CONTENTS

LEE GUTKIND • From the Editor (read it online)
MEREDITH HALL • Shunned (read it online)
JANA RICHMAN • Why I Ride
FRANK SOOS • I Held Their Coats: A Study of Two Jokes
SAM ANDERSON • The Unexamined Life
MARGARET OVERTON • Breast Cancer No. 2
JOYCE REISER KORNBLATT • And So on and So Forth
LUCINDA ROSENFELD • Nerve Endings
LAURIE GRAHAM • Bibliophilia
HILARY MASTERS • Unwired (read it online)
JANE BERNSTEIN • Rachel at Work: Enclosed, a Mother's Report
COVER TO COVER • Reviews of New Books

ABOUT THIS ISSUE

Our 20th issue, "Clarity" features writers searching for clarity in their lives, and the rest of the world, as they struggle to make social and personal changes. "Clarity" includes 10 essays by authors taking similarly reflective looks at their lives.

In the lead essay, "Shunned," Meredith Hall shares the painful rejection by her hometown—rejection triggered by teen pregnancy. In "Rachel At Work: Enclosed a Mother's Report," a special assignment funded by the Bayer Corporation, Jane Bernstein seeks a clear vision for the future of her developmentally disabled daughter—and for herself as the responsible adult and mother. In "Nerve Endings," Lucinda Rosenfeld wants to understand symptoms of paralysis that have suddenly affected her.

In "Bibliophilia," Laurie Graham, a former senior editor at Scribners, relives the life and energy provided by all her treasured books, lost in a devastating house fire. Jana Richman finds clarity in the wind and the roar of the motorcycle. These and other writers featured in issue 20 challenge their lives and their established communities, pushing for social and personal change.