Back cover: "Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts forge an unbreakable bond of support and love. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide. 'Water by the spoonful' is a heartfelt and poetic meditation on lives on the brink of redemption and self-discovery during a time of heightened uncertainty. This cycle of three plays began with 'Elliot, a soldier's fugue', a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and will conclude with 'The happiest song plays last', to be produced by the Goodman Theatre in 2013."