"Starting with "Only Connect?" - a witty and astute look at how the telephone is changing the nature of human relations - these essays move through a landscape of varied encounters that blossom into self-discovery for the reader as well as the writer. We meet a brilliant student silenced by his experiences in Vietnam, and a page turner whose magical grace eclipses the performance at which she assists. Schwartz examines herself behind the wheel of a car, and reflected through the eyes of a cat, and yet again as captured by a very special photographer. She describes the unique communal life of a city apartment building, grapples with the barriers of race and class, and casts a wry glance at the experience of aging."--BOOK JACKET.