Lewis Thomas on the art of dying -- The late afternoon -- Real men don't die -- Dogstoevsky -- Enter this house and let the ice melt -- Experimental animals -- Portrait of a prisoner -- Black autobiogrphy -- Mario Cuomo -- Mr. Mayor -- The dark comedian -- Words on pieces of paper -- Who lives there -- Is everybody here? -- Ronald Reagan -- A sense of where we are -- Ahhhhhh wilderness! -- Gone to soldiers everyone -- Call us Ishmael -- Children of war : Belfast ; Lebanon ; Cambodia -- The man in the water -- What should we lead with? -- The death of a columnist -- Do you feel the deaths of strangers? -- Do you know this woman? -- The quality of mercy killing -- They do -- The kitchens' kitchen -- The Roy Rogers family restaurant -- New Year's at Luchow's -- Christmas in a small place -- A Christmas carol -- A Christmas story -- Seven days in a small war -- Hiroshima : What the boy saw ; What the physicist saw -- The last place on earth -- Things that do not disappear -- An inescapable need to blame -- The odd pursuit of teaching books -- Would you mind if I borrowed this book? -- J.M. Synge --

(cont) The "Negro Everyman" and his humor -- My wild Irish Rosenblatt -- Hair piece -- The fat in the fire -- Maggie and Wilbur -- Five minutes, Miss Lenska -- Ashley Montana goes ashore in the Caicos -- Like a natural woman -- Residuals on An American family -- Fathers' days -- Speech for a high school graduate -- The aged mother -- Introduction to the reader.