$19.95                      

                              Jessica Shephard is living the Southern

                              California dream.  She is young, healthy,

                              has great friends and family, a promising

                              career in an aerospace company and always

                              knows how to get a laugh. Then, without warning,

                              she begins to suffer from mysterious episodes

                              of partial and total paralysis. Ironically, her own

                              laughter often triggers these episodes.

                              Soon she's bouncing from doctor to doctor,

                              none of whom can fathom what's wrong

                              with her despite a barrage of medical tests.

                              Some imply she's malingering or that it's

                              "all in her head."

                              Her illness profoundly changes her relation-

                              ship with her boyfriend, Fernando, a young

                              doctor who joins in the hunt for a diagnosis;

                              her anxious mother and stepfather; her friends

                              and co-workers.  Sometimes with their help,

                              sometimes with their hindrance, she struggles

                              to remain independent--to work, drive and care

                              for herself.  Her lifestyle and job are in jeopardy,

                              and her very life is threatened.  Eventually, she

                              realizes that her laughter is as involved in her

                              disease as it is in her life.