My Jockey

My Jockey: Short story by Lucia BerlinToday we have what is probably the best-known (and shortest!) story of Lucia Berlin. Although not much more than a snippet, it is a wonderful example of the descriptive and emotive power of her writing. Set in a hospital, the protagonist is an emergency room nurse who finds “connection” in the broken bodies and needs of the real men who come into her care. Her favorites (the most broken) are the jockeys, and her favorite among these is Muñoz whose pain results in her comforting and cradling him like a baby. Themes: loneliness, human connection, empathy, motherhood.

Continue ReadingMy Jockey

In the Family

In the Family: Short story by María Elena LlanaThis story from Cuban writer María Elena Llana uses a combination of humour and magical realty to highlight the potentially fatal consequences of pride. The victim (Clara), having excelled at university but never bothered to look for work, seems to think her formal education puts her above other family members. One evening, while “holding court” over dinner with her extended family (both living and dead) she learns the error of her ways. The next day she finds herself sitting on the other (dead family’s) side of the table. Themes: pride, acceptance of the unusual, the supernatural.

Continue ReadingIn the Family

A City of Churches

A City of Churches: Short story by Donald BarthelmeThis story begins with a woman talking to a realtor about moving to the city of Prester to open a car rental business. As they talk, she notices that every building in the city is a church of some kind. Typical of Donald Barthelme, things get stranger. Nobody rents cars in Prester, but the city has a problem. It needs a girl to work in its car-rental agency to make the town ‘complete’. The girl has a special talent; she can will her dreams. When told she cannot leave, she threatens to dream the life [they] are most afraid of.

Continue ReadingA City of Churches

The Mouse

The Mouse: Short story by H. H. Munro (aka Saki)This story by Saki satirizes the social sensitivities of the late-Victorian/Edwardian middle class. A prudish young man who has had a sheltered upbringing returns to the city from a farm visit. Sharing his train compartment is a woman who appears to be sleeping. He soon finds they are not alone… he has a mouse in his pants! To avoid offending the woman and causing a scene, he removes his trousers by hiding behind a blanket. Unfortunately, the blanket falls before can he put them on again and the woman wakes up. Themes include propriety, embarrassment, dissimulation, insensitivity towards others.

Continue ReadingThe Mouse

The Werewolf

The Werewolf: Short story by Angela CarterThis is the first of Angela Carter’s well-known “wolf tales” series. Although the beginning resembles the Red Riding Hood children’s story, things soon take a very different turn. A wolf loses a paw, grandma is missing a hand, and the villagers show their bravery by beating the poor woman to death. What I particularly like is the way that Carter uses foreshadowing and omissions in the story-line to leave readers with a question: Was the grandmother really a witch/were-woman, or was the “good child” one of those northern country people with a cold heart mentioned in the opening sentence?

Continue ReadingThe Werewolf

The Far and the Near

The Far and the Near: Short story by Thomas WolfeThis story from Thomas Wolfe is about perception, connection and disappointment. A railway engineer works the same route for over twenty years. Every day, he pays particular attention to a small, well-kept farmhouse from which a woman, and later a woman and child, emerge to wave cheerfully as the train passes. He feels a special connection with them, which helps through the monotony and occasional tragedies encountered in his work. On retirement, he decides to pay the woman a visit. This does not go as he had planned. Themes: appearances, false assumptions, confusion, isolation, suspicion, disillusionment, regret.

Continue ReadingThe Far and the Near

Snow

Snow: Short story by Ann BeattieOn the surface, Anne Beattie’s Snow is a simple story about a woman’s recollections of a romantic winter in the snow-covered countryside. She doesn’t appear to be speaking directly to the man, so one wonders if she might be writing him a letter, looking at his photograph, or simply re-living events in her mind. The major theme of the story is nostalgia and the nature of memory. She recalls the good times they had together and a bitter-sweet return visit after their parting, but suggests that the man may remember the winter differently. Other themes: storytelling, love, loss.

Continue ReadingSnow

The Rememberer

The Rememberer: Short story by Aimee BenderIn this story from Aimee Bender, a man who is so sad about the world that he laments thinking about it has a wish come true. For no apparent reason he begins to experience reverse evolution, shedding millions of years a day. He regresses into an ape, then a sea turtle, and finally a small salamander, which his lover frees into the ocean. All she has left is her memories of him, which she clings to because if he’s not here, it’s her job to remember. Themes include overthinking and emotional detachment, love and caregiving, loss and remembrance.

Continue ReadingThe Rememberer