Useless Penance/ Abraham Verghese
After his first liaison in Ethiopia (and the only time he’d not used a condom), he had relied on the Allied Army Field Method for “post-exposure prophylaxis,” as it was called in the books: wash with soap and mercury chloride, then squeeze silver proteinate ointment into the urethra and milk it down the length […]
A Crack in a Relationship/ Edith Hahn Beer and Susan Dworkin
He leaned over me, smiling, his blue eyes sparkling with pleasure. He picked up the baby, unwrapped the blanket, saw that she was a girl, and turned to stone. “This was your idea! This whole pregnancy was your idea! And what do I have to do now? Another daughter!” Werner was in a fury. It […]
