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Blame It on W

From Web Exclusives

We play a game in my family called Blame It on W. At first, we were a little slow to understand the rules, but, living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, we pretty soon got the hang of it. To take an obvious example, even if Bush didn’t actually fly the planes into the Twin Towers (and the . . . . Continue Reading »

Grim Tales

From the October 2000 Print Edition

For the past two years, I have been the head “Library Mommy” at my daughter’s private nursery school. The children tell me what books they have or have not read, what books they have at home, and what interests them in the school’s library. The nursery school is full of bright, lively, . . . . Continue Reading »

Getting Real

From the January 1994 Print Edition

A few months ago my stepdaughter turned eleven. On the verge of adolescence, Stella wonders daily about the stuff of female life. Hair, clothes, boyfriends. Condoms, sexual harassment, abortion. A New York City kid’s list of concerns is somewhat more bewildering than mine was at her age. At the . . . . Continue Reading »

On Marrying, Again

From the November 1992 Print Edition

Several years ago I wrote an essay on marriage, an essay filled with conviction and certainty. I was twenty-two, three weeks into my own marriage, and an out-of-work actress working as a receptionist for IBM. Not exactly Montaigne. Through a series of unlikely events, the essay was published and . . . . Continue Reading »