Three Spheres

Lauren Slater’s “Three Spheres” [November 1996] was luminous and stunning. Perhaps, in her struggle with mental illness, Slater’s sense of beauty was her salvation, along with her ability to express that beauty in words. I can’t imagine a world without suffering, but Slater has helped me to imagine one that at least offers solace and understanding.

I appreciate The Sun’s affinity for the shadow side of life, but in this culture, where I am hit in the face so regularly with violence and pain, the essays and stories sometimes drive me to turn the page, fling the magazine down, shut off the light. Not so with this one; I slept with it under my pillow.