September 24, 1999

'Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears'

By NINA C. AYOUB

Tears. Welling up, spilling over, striping the face, salting the tongue. They are one of the few human universals. Everyone, everywhere, has cried at some time, notes Tom Lutz in Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears (W.W. Norton). But tears, he adds, often resist interpretation, confounding people across cultures and within relationships. "An explanation that is obvious to the crier may be lost on the person whose shoulder is getting wet."

The

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