Animals Seeing animals killed accidentally or for sport, can we help but see images of war and cruelty? An interview with photographer May Mantell and a gallery from her new “Animals” series.

Birnbaum v. Jonathan Safran Foer Are we comforted by the official account of Sept. 11—the victims, the heroes, the assigned roles of good and evil—or do the generalizations shortchange our experiences? Robert Birnbaum talks to novelist Jonathan Safran Foer about his new book, the writing life, and what it’s like to be reviewed by Updike.

The Pigeons Are Illuminated No one in New York sleeps easily on Sunday night, so where better to share the collective isolation than at the top of the Empire State Building? Magdalen Powers goes looking for her fellow locals.

The Education of Elisabeth Eckleman: Flirting With Disaster Elisabeth Eckleman just left home, and has a lot of difficult decisions ahead of her. Sarah Hepola follows Elisabeth’s life and lets you make the tough choices for both of them. In this installment, Elisabeth decides that when her date becomes a ho, she will too. You decide what happens next.