Yeah, those were two good posts, Peggy. I had a problem with "Laughing Man" too. I wanted to reread it before I commented and haven't had a chance. Jim In a message dated 1/16/98 9:07:13 PM EST, pfj6868@is.nyu.edu writes: << Chief's relationship affected The Laughing Man's fate. What I didn't really understand was the story of the Laughing Man itself. It seemed fraught with meaning and ripe for interpretation but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. So when I said that I didn't really "get" the story, I was referring to the internal one, not the interplay between the internal and metanarrative lines of the story. Hope that clarifies it and look forward to reading your responses. Peggy >>