I love my Sony Reader. I never pay a cent for texts, because what I use it for is reading uncopyrighted long novels, turn of the 20th Century travel fiction, and other such oddities that I download from Gutenberg. It's a fiddle to figure out how to format the texts, easy once you do figure it out though, and for me this thing is a money and space saver, big time.

But I'm pretty odd, I suppose. Not everyone likes to hunker down with *The Golden Bowl.*

I'm also very nearsighted, so the low-contrast screen suits me fine and is easy on my eyes. I can make the print exactly the size and typeface I want, too.

And it's way prettier than the Kindle.

Right now I'm finishing up *The Origin of Species* and will shortly tackle *War and Peace.*

This is an inveterate reader's dream come true. No more moldy library books or fat paperbacks.

Well, we have carried this notion of the sacred family far enough, as far as I'm concerned. And I say this as a mother of two adult children who now have children of their own, thus making me a grandmother. I'm glad the CPS is keeping an eye on what's going on with children.

I have a friend who has major problems with her kids that she had too late in life and who has been deserted by her husband and has been nobly struggling along, making a mess out of things because she's so defensive, so confused, and actually starting to have mental problems. The kids are sullen, bullied and bullying, failing in school. How wonderful it is that the teacher and social worker are aware of what's happening and offering aid. They would never take the kids away, but having outside intervention may make all the difference to this family.

You serious, Wires?

Why was this guy running around loose? And who is this Pratt, and why is living up to his name?

If I were I guy, I'd be ashamed of my gender.

It amazes me that this man has been able to bully his family about his writing. Does he have a lot of money? Does he distribute favors? It's extraordinary, becaause anyone who writes knows that about the last thing friends and relatives want to do is look at, and express opinions, about this kind of writing. It really is asking too much! Reading and critiquing are services amateur writers should pay for. They can take writing classes, attend seminars or hire people who read manuscripts. Dragging innocent bystanders into one's writing situation is unfair.

I just saw "Young Adam." Now there's a good movie! Tight script, well directed, well edited. That's what I like. And it was actually about something.

I hate movie mush.

Remember all your cartoons about the Gore-bot, Mr. Tomorrow?Sure lucky we didn't get that loser for president. He wasn't perfect, like Mr. Nader. Who would please you? Kucinich? Oh please. He would be a disaster as president. He could not even manage Cleveland. And Ron Paul? Another little nut from Texas? No thanks.

I'm voting for a grownup. I'm voting for Hillary Clinton.

So go waste your time on Kucinich or Obama, if that makes you feel more moral and self-righteous than moi.

And if McCain becomes our next president because we run those weaklings against him, I will know who to thank.

And no one has paid me a penny to say that!

Like many others, I will quietly sneak into the voting booth and vote for Hillary Clinton. Get ready for the Big Surprise!

How do we account for the courage to go on living in the absence of hope?

Is living that bad?

The threat that evolution poses to the beliefs of the pious is that our species, like all other species, will eventually become extinct and be replaced by other species. It is life itself that is the wonder, in all it mutability. If that is not a thrilling concept, I don't know what is. And ultimately comforting, too. It puts things in perspective to understand that everything is finite.

Women certainly get the message about how they are supposed to disappear after a certain age. It must take enormous courage for Hillary Clinton to subject herself to the public eye at the age of 60.

Wonderful news!!!

"The Wire" has the highest production values.

I enjoyed this article so much. Thank you, Heather Havrilesky.

My feeling was that older Democratic women would quietly go out and vote for Clinton. We know that our everyday concerns are not being heard by the male candidates, who are focused mostly on themselves and who are filled with ego gas. I have hated the way Edwards and Obama have ganged up on Hillary in the debates, and I have appreciated her self control in the face of their attacks.

Johns??? I'm not a prostitute, why would I need a John?

If you don't get rid of her, I'm going to cancel my subscription.

Pantload. Pantload. Pantload. Pantload. Can't be said often enough. Between him and Paglia I am losing interest in subscribing to Salon.

I guess I am the only person aside from Lee Siegel to "get" Lee Siegel.

I thought that after reading this critique, in which the only laughs were Siegel quotes and the rest was the usual babyish narcissism about Internet culture. I'm always encountering people who believe that they are involved in the greatest and best of stuff, but I can see the doubt in their eyes.

Lee Siegel, as he has had to point out, is God.

Get it?

Why does McCain get protected? What happened to that lobbyist story in the N.Y. Times?

The true experts on children are, of course, the childless.