Author

Lauren Slater
Lauren Slater is the author of five books of nonfiction and one book of fiction. Her nonfiction book, Opening Skinner’s Box, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in science writing. Slater is a 2003 National Endowment for the Arts recipient and the 2006 guest editor for Best American Essays. Slater’s work has appeared in five different Best American series volumes and has been nominated for four National Magazine Awards. [2006]
CONTRIBUTIONS

Fiction
Jun 01 2006
Our Stone
I found a large brown boulder one day, and I decided to bring it in. I put it in our living room and then, to please my wife, swept up the trail of dirt it had left on our carpeting. The big brown boulder sat there like it owned the place. I could almost see it cross its arms. Its top was pointy; it had a big bulging belly and a squat base.

Nonfiction
Mar 01 1996
Black Swans
“There is something satisfying and scary about making an angel, lowering your bulky body into the drowning fluff, stray flakes landing on your face. I am seven or eight and the sky looms above me, grey and dead. I move my arms and legs–expanding, contracting, sculpting the snow before it can swallow me up. I feel the cold filter into my head, seep through the wool of my mittens. I swish wider, faster, then roll out of my mould to inspect its form. Am I dead or alive down there? Is this a picture of heaven or hell?”

Nonfiction
Mar 01 1995
Welcome to My Country
Winner of the 1995 Editor’s Prize for Essay. This essay is not currently available online.