Why Me? was published under a different title in Sep-<br > tember 1975. The reason for changing the title is so compli-<br > cated that it could--and probably will--fill another book， but<br > it can be summarized by one word: "denial." Women won t<br > be afraid to be seen buying a book called Why Me?; they<br > won t be ashamed to be seen carrying it or reading it on<br > buses or under the dryer in a beauty shop. They won t be<br > embarrassed to have it on their night tables next to Drs.<br > Spoek and Reuben.<br > A book called Why Me? can be a book about anything.<br > One of my earliest discoveries of denial came with the<br > publication of the hardcover edition. Soon after it went on<br > sale， the hostess on a TV talk show told me， "I would never<br >have read your book if I hadn t been assigned to do it." A<br >newspaper reporter said， "I put another jacket on it， so I<br >could read it on the subway." In a bookstore， a salesperson<br >told me that several women had asked her to bag the book<br >and bring it to them at the cash register for payment; they<br >didn t want anyone to spot them buying it. No longitudinal<br >or latitudinal surveys were needed to show that while women<br >are ready to read about vaginal deodorants， soft bowel move-<br >ments， and rape， we aren t ready for a book boldly titled<br >Breast Cancer.<br > So I knew immediately that the first updating revisions<br >that would have to be made would involve the psychoemo-<br >tlonal aspects of this disease. I hadn t known how serious<br >~tdenlal" is in every step of detection and treatment of breast<br >cancer. Denial is the mecha~sm that keeps women from<br > ]earning anything about symptoms; it prevents them from<br > " " g (heir b ~ s. from go{rig to a doctor/mmediatel~，<br > and from accepting treatment when the diagnosis is finally<br > made. In extreme instances， denial can even make it possible<br > for a woman to stop feeling or seeing a symptom entirelyI<br > As I said， the details of denial could fill a book.<br > Publication of a book makes its author an "instant exnert¡£<br >