340 pp. Paired essays by a male and female writer on each topic examine a variety of issues of life, some of them gender related, others pertaining to creativity and perception, such as the writing process. Designed as a resource for college classes, but livelier than the average textbook. Among the essays: Diana Trilling's "On the Death of Marilyn Monroe;" Tillie Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing," a moving account of missed opportunities in motherhood, and Ring Lardner's "Some Like Them Cold."

Gender. Relationships. Perception. Essays. Writing. Literary. Psychology. Marilyn Monroe.