Summary

“Bone Density” is a short story centered around a writer, her husband David, and their extramarital affairs. The couple live together in a snowy town – David is a renowned professor in mechanical and biomedical engineering who travels three or four days every week as a part of his job. The narrator is frequently told about her husband’s work, although she has only a superficial understanding of his research. Similarly, David maintains a cursory understanding of her writing – they both attempt to understand as much about their partners’ field to sustain the marriage.

The narrator is aware of David’s affairs with research assistants and students and the strangers he meets during his travels. However, she “refuses to play the part of the dissatisfied, jealous wife.” She claims that she is not dissatisfied because she knows who she married (170). When her husband is...