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The Multi-Tasking Man (What Makes a Man, Riverhead Books, January 2004)
Feminism's first supermodel was an ancient goddess. As the story goes, Mahisa, a rebellious and greedy god, seized the celestial kingdom when his creator, Brahman, denied him immortality. The gods became so incensed by this tyrant that in order to win back their kingdom they combined their powers to produce a divine force in the form of a beautiful woman. Durga was a shapely siren with eight wild arms wielding deadly weapons. More
For a Merry Prankster, A Day-Glo-Free Funeral (The New York Observer, April 2002)
It was a fitting night for a Prankster's wake. Halloween jack-o'-lanterns glowed in the windows of farmhouses draped with American flags; plastic tombstones leered up from the dark lawns. Exactly the way Ken Kesey-if not my Uncle Sandy-would have staged it.
As the mourners poured into the Stewart Murphy Funeral Home in the quiet upstate New York town where Sandy spent his last years, I felt as if we were burying not only my uncle, but also the time he'd come to represent. More
Alter Angst? Cyber-Rabbi to the Rescue! (The New York Observer, 1999)
A few weeks ago, my good friend Sarah and I were sitting in her Perry Street apartment, watching Brady Bunch reruns on cable. At the commercial breaks, we chatted about her upcoming wedding, everything from the politics of choosing bridesmaids to the minutiae of color schemes to the all-important question that torments so many prospective brides and grooms of my generation: Who will perform the ceremony? Sarah is Jewish and Sam, her fiancé, is Christian, so the question of which religious community to go to for an officiant has become the central drama of their wedding. More
The Night We Met Mom's Analyst (The New York Observer, 1999)
A few weeks ago, my mother called to invite me to my parents' house in the suburbs for dinner and announced that the guest of honor would be Dr. Jacob Stump—her former psychoanalyst, whom she had not seen since the early 70's and whom she had never seen socially. More
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