What makes these articles "the best?" As Sobel puts it in her introduction, " — the pieces impart genuine pleasure via the writers' choice of words and the rhythm of their phrases. 'I wish I'd written that,' was my own frequent reaction to the articles I ultimately chose."

From Library Journal: "Blau states that one million Americans suffer from lupus, eight out of nine being women. That's a compelling reason for patients, their families, and their friends to learn more about this connective tissue disease."

Reviewed by nearly 50 practicing physicians from a cross section of medical specialties, the book provides authoritative guidance on hundreds of diseases and disorders and all the latest tests, treatments, procedures, and drugs — from SARS and portable defibrillators to LASIK and morning-after pills — and provides new or greatly expanded coverage of genetic testing, sexual orientation, learning disabilities, ADD and ADHD, pregnancy, stem cell transplants, flu shots, and drug abuse.

Raeburn says he began Acquainted with the Night thinking it would be a science writer's account of mental illness in children. He begins the story with a prologue relating his own experiences with his children, one of whom has bipolar disorder and one of whom has depression. When he finished the prologue, he says, "I felt I had more to say about the personal story before I moved to the journalism." Eventually, he discovered he could not let go of the personal story — it took over the book.