I was surprised to see, in the brief description of C. Mann that follows her brilliant and incisive article, these words: "This is her first atttempt at writing for publication."

Why surprised? Because to call her essay an "attempt" is just wrong. Her essay is a fact, a deed -- she's done it, and succeeded brilliantly. There is nothing tentative about her words or her style.

Let her leave her bastard husband, who erodes her confidence, and let her write many, many more articles for Salon.com and other publications.

-- Caren Litherland

I suspect that there is more to the story than we're told, and I'll bet we're not going to get to hear that part. Men don't generally just hit their wives, out of the blue, for no reason, even though some women -- especially budding writers -- might have us believe that they do.

I hope things get better in that house.

-- Jon Bowden

Pathetic! That's the first word that came to my mind as I read C. Mann's essay about her husband's brutality, which she has allowed to become "familiar." My reaction was not one of pity for her but, rather, disgust. Knowing women who work two or more menial, backbreaking jobs so that they will not have to rely on abusive men, I have nothing but contempt for a woman who would allow the abuse to continue and who continues to expose her small children to an atmosphere of violence.

C. Mann's tale is all the more shameful because she has a steady job and is apparently well educated and yet she persists in allowing herself to be a human punching bag. We can only hope that Salon will someday provide a follow-up story about how she stopped whining, got off her ass and took control of her life. That would be a story worth reading, unlike the pathetic drivel related in "Knocked Senseless."

-- Bonnie Nelle Duncan

Get out. Get out get out get out get out get out get out. Please. Or Grace is going to grow up thinking that this is what marriage is and your son is going to grow up thinking he has the right to do this to his wife. Get out. Your husband should be shot. The Dixie Chicks said it best: Earl must die.

I pray to God that hell exists for men like him.

-- Shannon Montgomery

C. Mann's story is gripping and outrageous. The element that is missing is that she is an accomplice to a crime. Assault and battery is criminal behavior. Based on her description, her husband could be convicted of misdemenaor assault and battery and sentenced to jail. The fact that she is aware of his criminal behavior and doesn't report it makes her an accomplice. If she were the only victim, we might shrug and say, "You make your bed, you sleep in it." But what about the children? If the woman he promised to love and to cherish he knocks senseless because she annoys him, what will he do when the children annoy him?

It's unfortunate she allowed her involvement with him to become intimate. If she had had the foresight to avoid him instead of marrying him, her children might not be in the life-threatening situation they are in. The point to understand is that he is not at fault. His message has been communicated very clearly: He belongs in jail. The only people at fault are the other members of society who know about his behavior and won't take the necessary action to deal with him.

Of course, the soft-minded will say life is never black and white, it's always varying shades of gray. If she stays with him he might get better. If she leaves him he might kill her. This is a complicated situation and we shouldn't second-guess her.

BULLSHIT. Life is black and white. People who break the law are asking to be punished. That society fails to punish them is our fault, not the lawbreaker's. People who use violence in intimate relationships are capable of murder. This guy needs punishment and treatment. And, at this late date, even that may not be enough to save the lives of C. Mann and her children.

-- Peter Donner

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