This Grace Paley story describes a middle-aged runner’s surreal journey through the now predominantly African American neighborhood in which she grew up. When a thoughtless word leads to screams for help, she shelters for three weeks with the people living in her old family apartment. The story’s major theme is change. While some things are the same (poverty, kindness, motherly love), the world has moved on. The neighborhood has changed (the racial mix, urban decay, a climate of fear), as has the city (‘maleness’, less family unity, drug use). In confronting her past, she learns there is no going back. More…

This story from Grace Paley uses a meta-fictional approach (a story about storytelling) to highlight generational differences between a writer and her aged father. The father, who is confined to bed, asks his daughter to write a simple story just once more, the kind Maupassant wrote. Instead, she relates a minimalist, open-ended tale with several possible outcomes. These artistic differences reflect the ailing father’s coming death. He has accepted that the end is near; she is not ready to. Her story challenges the father’s views on themes such as family, parenting, addiction, and the ability to change one’s destiny. More…