New Yorker short stories I’ve listened to on the podcast feed
John Cheever, “The Five Forty-Eight” – Great plot! Surprisingly dramatic and entertaining. Mad Men-esque. Great discussion by Mary Gaitskill about this. A third-person story about a man stalked by a woman he once slept with. Nice POV handling of a “dislikeable” character. It was interesting to hear Gaitskill’s discussion of what her students would think of this, and of Cheever in general (i.e. complaining about him as ‘old white man’ and not taking into account that he was gay/bisexual).
David Means, “Chance the Cat” – This was interesting, especially the use of repetition (specifically the way he uses questions), the abrupt POV swerve, and the use of time. David Means is a very much a writer’s writer but I’ve been super interested in him recently and am aiming to familiarize myself with more of this work. Great story for cat fans to read. The titular cat is discovered on the street by an interracial couple who’ve just started dating. When the POV of the story shifts, it’s into the POV of a Secret Service agent called Dwight who is guarding the Obamas’ property (the story is set in Chicago). This POV shift into Dwight was a really interesting and unpredictable part of the story. Overall I enjoyed this!
Raymond Carver, “Chef’s House” – Good story about addiction. Interesting use of time, i.e. scene vs summary (a lot of time passes very quickly in the beginning and slows down a lot at the end). Great discussion by David Means. Means makes some good comments on how he doesn’t think the female POV is super successful, which I think I agree with – I didn’t even realize the narrator was a woman until, like, the end. Means talks about the biographical links between this story and Carver, and how Carver maybe wrote this story as an apology to his wife. Means also made a really interesting comment about “style as avoidance” (I’ll have to go back and listen to this). The story leaves us with a question – will he or won’t he return to drinking? – that we have to answer for ourselves.
Lorrie Moore, “Face Time” – A COVID story! Impressed with myself that I was able to listen to this. I liked the universal theme in this story – the struggle of watching a parent die – and the contrasting personalities of the sisters. The ending passage is really interesting – almost reads as a coda (it could have very easily ended with her receiving the news, but instead it lingers, going into the next day). Good old Loorie Moore and her humour! Jokes! The very wattage of life.
Roberto Bolaño, “Labyrinth” – Wow, this one is pretty nuts. LOVED Sterling Holywhitemountain’s discussion of this, just fascinating. I must have read this story when The Secret of Evil was published but I definitely did not retain it at all. The beginning is fascinating – the obsessive description of a real-life photograph – and then the way it abruptly shifts into a ‘fictional’ register (imagining what these real-life figures are doing, their daily routines) is super interesting. REALLY weird ending – was the story unfinished? (Sterling Holywhitemountain thinks not.) Apparently Bolaño combined a lot of actual facts with made-up ones so you just have NO idea what is real and what isn’t unless you commit yourself to a lot of research. So Borgesian! The discussion of this went into detail about how Bolaño is so successful at creating dread, and aesthetic vs documentary impulses. Highly recommended.
Sterling Holywhitemountain, “False Star” – After such a great discussion of the Bolaño piece, I immediately wanted to read work by Sterling Holywhitemountain and wow, did it not disappoint! Damn! I thought the voice here was so confident – very Bolaño-esque in terms of the compelling first-person; it just SUCKS you in. This is a very American story, in the sense that it’s about money and coming-of-age. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but maybe I have to go back and read it again (maybe it’s an excerpt from a novel-in-progress?).
Sterling Holywhitemountain, “Featherweight” – This is one of the best short stories I’ve read in YEARS! It’s a love story, and I just found it SO profoundly moving, especially the ending, which you can definitely describe as sublime. Incredible first person voice; humorous yet also dark and deeply tragic. I knew some part of me would never escape the gravity of my own insufficiency. What a talent to watch! This story is my #2 on the list.
Mary Gaitskill, “The Other Place” – This story is my #1. WOW. I thought this was amazing – incredibly topical and well done. Intelligent, artistic, and subtle, yet also deeply entertaining. I loved the theme (violence against women) and I thought the fucked up yet understandable first-person narrator was incredibly compelling, even as I often felt very afraid and disturbed by him. Incredible achievement. And an incredibly beautiful, sad ending—I loved how it ended with the son. He won’t know that I’m there with him, because we will never speak of it. But I will be there. He will not be alone with that.
Joy Williams, “The Beach House” – Joy Williams is a writer a lot of people I know REALLY dig (like David Means). Not sure how I felt about this one, to be honest! A story about a daughter and her deteriorating father. Quirky dialogue – I liked the back and forth exchanges between father and daughter. The POV shift in the final paragraph was very powerful and effective; Williams clearly knows what she’s doing. I was left a bit cold emotionally (maybe because I listened to this after the Gaitskill, which blew me away). I’ll have to read more of her, I think.