It seems to me that loneliness is an itch that can be scratched in more than one way. That suggests to me that there are different kinds of loneliness. I'm tempted to try to catalog some of them here, but will leave that to you. What I want most to say is that in considering what loneliness is, what its causes are and how it can be remediated, I do think we need to start by recognizing that we can be lonely for different kinds of social encounters at different times.

I like good writing, but confess that I rarely buy new books. Haven't for years. For something you can't eat, wear, or live in, they are extremely expensive, even in paperback. Whether read or not, they tend to pile up around the house, crowding out the air, as their frail pages turn yellow.

True, it is nice to have a few favorite books handy for reference, but tattered second-hand copies will do. And there are, after all, libraries - buildings specially designed to house scads of books. You can leave a library with a stack of books, skim them all fast, read the one or two winners, then return them all for orderly storage at no charge. And if, like me, you sometimes return the whole stack late late late, the library gets paid, which is good.

About e-books, I read an hour's worth of reviews of Kindle the other day. Kindle sounds good to me. Very good and getting better. If you own a Kindle, you can download a new book for about 10 bucks, where ever you happen to be. You can sample Chapter One before you download and pay, if I understood correctly.

It seems to me that if you want to make money by marketing, distributing, and selling books, this is where the money will be made.

Salon, why don't you get in on the e-book action? I'd be really tempted by an e-book device and related book downloads/sales that somehow dove-tailed with a book club kind of web 2.0 thing. See if you can partner with Amazon or Sony on that.

In any case, the art and craft of writing will continue as long as we have language and readers.

I may have to quote you on that.

But who knows, I may change my mind.

Is this fiction or non-fiction? Beautifully written and I want to know. A short story? An interview? Which?

Just for balance I would like to add that I had periods for 40 years or so and rarely thought about them. It just wasn't that big a deal.

Interesting review of a book which I would recommend to anyone who is new to the notion that Biblical text was written, edited, and selected by lots of people over hundreds of years.

Granted, any person over fifteen years of age, who has given the Bible a moment of honest thought, knows that men (and perhaps a few women) took turns writing and assembling its verses.

As a grown up, what interested me most was Ehrman's personal faith journey from belief to mature belief to doubt to disbelief. Where he stands in ten or twenty years will be of interest as well.

As a Unitarian Universalist, I take religion seriously and am always honored when someone tells me the authentic story of their faith, whatever its sources, sustenance and obstacles - be it faith in God or faith in us.

Hospitals, colleges, and universities, like churches in the US, are almost always exempt from real estate property taxes. This is often a concern when non-profits propose to expand their territory in urban environments, that need increased real estate tax revenue. See, e.g., http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/us/26tax.html?pagewanted=print

Good for you! Now you have an opinion on American Idol, just like most of the rest of us. I enjoyed reading it.

Too bad this article is an unreadable mess. Why did I think Salon favored good writing over this kind of incoherent rehash?

Paula tries to be gentle and kind with the contestants. Even at her most incoherent, she communicates concern for the feelings and aspirations of the spotlighted hopefuls. That's a nice quality in a mean world. And a nice counterpoint on Idol - a show essentially about entertainers and wannabes using each other, while the rest of us watch agog.

I was given two Barbies in 1963. One had shiny black hair in a ponytail. The other had a black bouffant do - like the Barbie that Sally threw out the window. So, yes, I can attest to the fact that some Barbies had that black bouffant hair style.

As to the meaning of Barbie in this show - take a another look at Joan.

I get it that Sally was not in the mood for a mock present from baby brother Gene, nor for her mother's selfish attempt to buy Sally's quiet acceptance of baby Gene.

But in Sally's rejection of Barbie, I also read a nice and self-preserving proto-feminism. And so I am hopeful for Sally. For whatever reasons, she threw Barbie out the window. Bravo. And waking later that night to see Barbie back in her room, she screamed.

I have no quarrel with either Barbie, or the magnificent Joan. What is wrong is to be invisible, if you aren't Barbie and don't want to be Barbie. Ask Peggy about it.