Lerner did not play for sympathy or condemn the penal system; he simply recounted his experience with deadpan, self-deprecating wit.

I wish I could be of more help to you than simply recounting an old children's story.

Mr. Smith's considerable ambitions extend, however, well beyond simply recounting the history of the Reagan years.

Let me repeat - I am simply recounting my own personal experiences with this diet.

In fact, I've been accused, not entirely tongue-in-cheek, of simply recounting the real history of a world in some other dimension.

She sighed with relief, able to simply recount her measurements and their results, free of the carapace of hobbling theory.

The reporter promised to simply recount what happened, and Wes finally gave in.

Ms. Ensler said she was simply recounting her own experience.

And "A Visit" simply recounts a man's perplexing visit with an old friend who has married a frog named Alice.

Simply recounted, it becomes one of those barroom tales that usually ends with the apology, "You had to have been there."