Summary

In “Follicular,” at Libby’s wedding, the narrator and Miles fight. The wedding is “beautiful and believable,” but convinces the narrator she will never have the same (222). Later, she again realizes she and Miles are playing roles. Everything seems meaningless, but “Life is not” (223).

The narrator thinks she is “coming out of a dark period” (226). While Miles is out, she takes a shower and surfs the Internet. She looks up pictures of cocoons. She learns that the caterpillar turns into mush before becoming a butterfly.

While sitting in bed writing, she realizes her life has been driven by fear. She waits for the haze of the Internet to disappear. Gradually, she becomes a self again. Last night, she researched women who “suffer from their moods” the way she does (230).

In “Ovulating,” the narrator wonders if her body believes she “doesn’t want a...