Summary

Will finally reads "The Lizard Cage" after his mother's insistence that he do so for a very long time. It's about a Buddhist monk imprisoned in Burma. His mother has been involved in the civil rights movement, and this book renews her interests there and in Afghanistan.

In "Brat Farrar", Will's publishing company had an opportunity to publish a book about a computer scientist dying of pancreatic cancer. He gives a copy of the manuscript to his mother as he goes to Florida for a visit, but he sees her in a wig for the very first time. He's shocked to see her in it, but makes every attempt to pretend nothing is unusual. He offers the manuscript to his mom by leaving it on her coffee table as he goes out for a walk. He reads "Brat Farrar" on the beach. He...