Paper Trail

Ellen Goodman's column appears in more than 400 newspapers. A syndicated columnist for the Boston Globe and the Washington Post Writers Group, and the coauthor of the New York Times bestselling book on female friendships I Know Just What You Mean, Goodman lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

In this rich and savvy collection of commentaries on the events, people and issues that shape and define our world, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and New York Times bestselling author Ellen Goodman cuts to the heart of the stories and controversies that helped to define our times.For over twenty-five years, nationally syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman has been training her lens on contemporary American life. A marvelously direct writer with keen insight into what makes the average American tick, laugh and occasionally boil with rage, Goodman takes her measure of the national psyche in a voice that is at once perceptive, witty and deeply humane.Paper Trail, her first collection in more than ten years, journeys through an era that has been golden in its advances and bleak in its disappointments. In a voice both reasoned and impassioned, she makes sense of the cultural debates that have captured our attention and sometimes become national obsessions. She wrestles with the close-to-the-bone issues of abortion, working mothers and gay marriage, the struggles for civil liberties and equal rights, and the moral complexity of assisted suicide and biotech babies. As she wends through the era of the Clinton scandals and the "amBushing" of America, the dot-com boom and bust, the horrors of September 11 and the War on Terrorism, Goodman pauses to celebrate some of our lost icons, including Jackie Onassis, Princess Diana and Doctor Spock. She reminds us as well of the fleeting fame of such instant celebrities as Elian Gonzalez and Lorena Bobbitt.The lines that separate public and private life dissolve under Goodman's scrutiny as she shows us how Washington politics, Silicon Valley technology and the national media culture infiltrate our jobs, relationships and minds. With the trademark clarity that readers count on, she walks us through the dilemmas posed by new technologies that range from cloning to cell phones and makes us laugh at the vagaries of Viagra and Botox and unreality TV. And in a world that sometimes seems to be stuck on fast forward, she holds on to values as timeless as a family Thanksgiving and a summer porch in Maine.Including more than 160 of Ellen Goodman's lively and stylish columns, this timely collection walks us along the paper trail in a voice that is both crystal clear and original.

ContentsIntroductionAmerican SceneThe Self-service GenerationThe Latest RageClass WarriorsThe Ups and Downs of the Sex PillHurrying HealingThe Gospel of AbstinenceA New "Modest Proposal" The Supersizing of AmericaA Mixed Message on the Work EthicTansy, Goldenrod 101Betting on DiversityOne-upping the PreschoolersA Pill for What Haunts YouCloe's First FourthSpeed ZoneThe Malcontent of a Content ProviderRethinking the Rape ShieldPrince Tell-It-AllTrash TV TrickeryOJ's No VictimBobbitt BabblingElian in the MiddleRequiem for a PrincessFearing StrangersThe Cough Heard 'Round the WorldTalking BackPeople WatchingMistress of ChaosYou're a Good Man, Charlie SchulzA Death in the Family of NewspapersJackie Was a Model of Dignity to the EndFather Who Knew BestThe Spock GenerationThe Lady with All the AnswersRonald Reagan's Long Good-byeLast Day in the NeighborhoodCivil & Other LibertiesZero Tolerance for ChildrenOpen or Empty-Minded?"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"When Hate Is a CrimeThe Kaczynski ConundrumThe Case of the Pregnancy PoliceOn Civil Rights and CivilityIn the Combat ZoneRock of AgesPortraying FDR -- As He WasFrom Outlaws to In-LawsCharacter & CaricatureOut-of-Character ExperiencesMike, We Hardly Knew YeLives Built on LiesBill, Monica & Us: Act OneBill, Monica & Us: Act TwoBill, Monica & Us: Act ThreeLegislate Respect? No, SirTimothy McVeigh Is No EnigmaBob Kerrey's -- and Our -- Long Journey BackAmerican TalibanThe View from SomewhereThurmond's Past Is Our PresentRush & the WimpFamily MattersThe Functional American FamilyMeet Your ChildrenA Child Robbed of Her ChildhoodOverwork OverwhelmsStrangers and Dangers on a Summer DaySins of the SonsOf Jewels and LawsThe Answer Is Love, Not ScienceTaking Dad's Car Keys AwayChasing the DemonsTick Tock Tick TockWalking on Our Mother's BonesAt LargeThe Hidden Women of AfghanistanThe First Internet WarAfter the "Gotchas"Awful Mission AccomplishedReligious Zealots There and HereAll in It TogetherReligion Heals and DividesFundamental MisogynyOn EvilRemembrance and ResilienceWhen Suicide Becomes a Weapon9/11 24/7Iraq: How Did We Get Here?Iraq: The Home FrontIraq: The AftermathIraq: The HeroineSeptember 11 SpinThree Steps ForwardBlonde AmbitionThe Abortion Art GalleryFlorida Fetus FightWhen Thin Bites FijiBlame the Working MotherThe End of Motherhood as We Knew ItThe Really Mean GirlsHillary 1: The Candidate's WifeHillary 2: MVP on the Defense TeamHillary 3: The CandidateHillary 4: The SenatorHistory's Challenge to Laura BushThe Silicone StoryThe Raging Hormone DebateAre Women Now Insiders on the War?Tech TrailInternet IntimacyReach Out and Miss SomeoneBrain HousekeepingMe and My PalmBack to Civilization?Good Morning SpamericaLife Before the CamerasAn Old-Fashioned UpgradeTrail MixDon't Fret, Mes Amis, About Le Hot DogThe Bagel That Ate New YorkJackie's JunqueThird Reich RhetoricForward ThinkingMeno-PositiveCaffeine WarriorGender & Other GapsHow Girls Read BoysSisterhood SplinteredEquality at 63?The First Campaign for First GentlemanAttack Ads with a Woman's TouchOne-Size-Fits-All EducationA Kinder, Gentler PatriarchyLost in the Gender GapMarriage on a Sliding ScaleBio & Other EthicsOf Life and ProlifeDr. Partner to Dr. ProviderThe Money or the Egg?Hello, Dolly -- And Molly and Polly and Lolly and FollyThe Seed CatalogClone or ClownA Moral BankruptcyMourning MedicineA Kidney for the BossDying the Dutch WayDemons in a Death Penalty CaseDying the Kevorkian WayGetting to Know DeathConnections & Missed ConnectionsMarrying Up?How to Capture Mr. RightThe Name Game for NewlywedsMarriage as Poverty CureA Honeymoon or Jail?A New Take on DivorceBattle of Sexes -- and ExcessesWhat Celibacy's Got to Do With ItOf Sex and SilenceTo Have and to WagerClose to HomeThe Gotta-Go GenerationOutliving My FatherThe Tried and True VacationI Worked Hard for That Furrowed BrowSquirrel SenseThe Right Course for MidlifeHere and Now with AuntieBrave BeginningHe Was the Boss -- and a Lot MoreWelcome to My GrandsonRest StopAmerica's Incredible Shrinking VacationA Sense of PlaceMy Left KneePutting Down RootsMindful of the Uncertainty of LifeAfter 20 Years of Cultivation, My Garden Is Growing MeA Commencement Day ConfessionAcknowledgments