Face to Face: A Reader in the World

by Lynne Sharon Schwartz

Beginning with the title piece—a witty and insightful look at how the telephone has changed the way we relate to each other—Schwartz leads readers through a landscape of our attempts at connection. The author encounters a brilliant student silenced by his experiences in Vietnam and a page turner whose grace eclipses the performance of the pianist she assists. Schwartz makes peace with a cat, loses interest in a date, catches a stranger's eye, and is startled by her own image seen through a loving photographer's lens. As always, we recognize ourselves in her sometimes wary, sometimes hopeful, and always fiercely intelligent gaze. Face to Face is essential reading for all who value human relationships in our rapidly changing world. "Schwartz is at home with the personal essay, a form that, ideally, bonds writer and reader into a kind of intimate literary friendship. . . in each [piece] she shares her humanity with her readers.