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Archive for the ‘New Yorker’ Category

David Foster Wallace–[Week 3] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §22] #palesummer14

Posted in America, Big Books, Boredom, Boston, Chicago, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Deep Purple, Demons, Drugs, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Jethro Tull, Kansas, Kiss, Law, Memoirs, Meta, New Yorker, Obetrol, Pale Summer, Pink Floyd, Religion, Reo Speedwagon, Research, Rush, Styx, Taxes on July 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

tpk3SOUNDTRACK: OBETROL-“The Sound Machine” and “Chopped an Dropped”(2011).

obetrrolObetrol is a band that I can find out very little about. They seem to have 5 songs out and each one is quite different. My favorite is “The Sound Machine” which has a lush sound with twinkly guitars and a wispy female vocalist singing over the top of it.  It has a very trippy slow motion quality to it.  The singer sings a bit like a delicate Kim Gordon (in that shes not always exactly on key).

It’s hard to get more out of this song since it’s only 2:25, but I think it would make a cool intro to any record.

“Chopped and Dropped” on the other hand opens with buzzy guitars (and a “Kick Out the Jams” sample).  The vocals are sung (screamed) by a man. It is a fast-moving tinny punk song with trippy female echoed vocals in the background.

Hard to pin them down, but you can check them out here.

[READ: July 28, 2014] Pale Summer Week 3 (§22)

This week’s read is only one section because it is almost 100 pages of one person’s testimony.  Presumably, this is also part of the testimony on videotape which was broken down into smaller sections.  But there is no “context” for this section;  no ID number.  Although it does address very similar issues and questions.  I was on the fence about how much to include here.  So much of it is “irrelevant,” that I hate to get bogged down in details.  So I think it will be a basic outline of ideas until the more “important” pieces of information surface.

§22

For the most part, this is all inside one man’s head as he talks about his life in college, after college, and into the Service.  In terms of advancing the “plot,” there’s not much (until the end).  Mostly this is simply a wonderful character study, full of neuroses and problems that many people face at some point (to one degree or another).  We don’t know who this author is (very minor spoiler: we will learn who it is in §24 [highlight to read]).

The interviewee states that “A good bit of it I don’t remember… from what I understand, I’m supposed to explain how I arrived at this career.”

Initially he was something of a nihilist, whose response to everything was “whatever.”  A common name for this kind of nihilist at the time was wastoid.  He drifted in and out of several colleges over the years, taking abstract psychology classes.  He says that his drifting was typical of family dramas in the 1970s–son is feckless, mother sticks up for son, father squeezes sons shoes, etc. They lived in Chicago, his father was a cost systems supervisor for the City of Chicago. (more…)

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Lionel Shriver–“Kilifi Creek” (New Yorker, November 25, 2013)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Africa, Fears, Lionel Shriver, New Yorker, Pixies, Short Story, Swimming on July 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_11_25_13Viva.inddSOUNDTRACK: PIXIES & “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC-”I Bleed” (2009).

iblledYesterday I posted about “Weird Al”‘s new song “First World Problems” which parodies the Pixies’ style. I didn’t know that Al liked the Pixies, but he’s evidently quite a fan.  And the feeling is mutual. Here’s a video from 2009 of Al singing lead on the Pixies’ track “I Bleed.”

Al is totally passionate about the vocals.  The more professional looking video has an audio the mix is a little odd, as Al is so much louder than the band, that his intensity really sticks out, even though I’m sure the rest of the band was just as loud.  Indeed, there’s a fan video that is mixed better (which I have posted below, even though the more professional one has the welcoming introduction for Al).

I like that he starts with the spoken style (even if his spoken voice is not as menacing as Francis’).  And then when the actually rocking part kicks in, Al, keeps up just fine.

[READ: July 1, 1014] “Kilifi Creek”

This story starts out with an interesting technique–speaking about the main character in third person but with great insight and almost a judging attitude into her mindset: “It was a brand of imposition of which young people like Liana thought nothing showing up on an old couple’s doorstep, the home of friends of friends of friends….  mature adulthood–and the experience of being imposed upon herself–might have encouraged her to consider what showing up as an uninvited impecunious house guest would require of her hosts.”

Indeed, Liana is traveling around the world and has stopped at various people’s houses for free room and board for a week or so, all in the name of young exploration.  In most instances, she gives the lucky family a few days’ notice. And she felt she repaid the families not with money but with brightness and enthusiasm.

This particular family was on the Kenyan coast, their name: Henley.  “Regent Henley carried herself as if she used to be good-looking and her husband Beano (a ridiculous name for anyone so old) was a big game hunter.  They were wealthy by African standards and their native help often had little to do, Liana even considered that her arrival would give the help something to occupy themselves with.”

She was staying for six nights.  But rather than doing any major exploring, she spent most of her mornings writing things online to her friends, and most of her afternoons in a bikini, coming to and from the Kilifi Creek behind the Henley’s house. (more…)

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David Foster Wallace–[Week 1] The Pale King (2011) [Pale Summer §1-§9]

Posted in Airlines, Big Books, Boredom, Canadian Music, Corporate skewering, David Foster Wallace, Death, Demons, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Ghosts, Law, Memoirs, Meta, New Yorker, Pale Summer, Religion, Research, Taxes on July 14, 2014| 4 Comments »

tpk1SOUNDTRACK: PALE KING-“An Airing” (2013).

paleNope, I never heard of the musician Pale King until I searched for a song to put here.

This song begins as a piano instrumental (with some keyboards layered over).  It swells and lifts through some simple chord changes.  A martial beat comes in from time to time to give it some urgency.

This might actually work as a the opening credits to the never-to-be made movie of The Pale King, or perhaps a soundtrack to §1 (which is a short prose poem type of thing).

At about 1:45, some guitars burst through (adding some drama), and the drums grow louder.  It builds slowly until it starts to taper off and ends much like it began

I don’t know much or anything about the artist except that he’s from Toronto and he has a bandcamp site where you can hear this track.

[READ: July 14, 2014] Pale Summer Week 1 (§1-§9)

In other Summer Reading Group posts, I have tried to summarize chapters, make connections between characters that I may have missed in earlier readings of the book and, just tried to be more microscopic about my reading.  I don’t usually philosophize too much about the stories, but I do wax poetic from time to time.  Having said all that, The Pale King presents its own unique challenges because the book is unfinished.  So it’s not always clear if any connections can be made from chapters that are elliptical. DFW in particular likes to write scenes without naming characters, giving the reader something to discover later on, perhaps.  So you may have a scene that has no named people in it, but their speech patterns or details are referenced later, allowing you to piece things together.

There is definitely some of that piecing going on here, but as I said, when a book is unfinished, and this one was largely pieced together by editor Michael Pietsch, it’s not clear if you are missing something or if it simply isn’t there.  So there will be some speculation, and some omissions for sure, but we press on.

A further complication is the collection of Notes and Asides at the end of the book.  Some reveal information about characters that is not necessarily evident in the book, some talk about things that might have happened or even might have been removed if DFW had played around with the text more.  In general I am not going to read these now, so as to avoid spoilers.  But I may insert them later (with spoiler warnings) to make it easier to make sense of the book later.

The primary setting for the book is the IRS Regional Examination Center in Peoria, IL set in 1985.  Editor Michael Pietsch (in his thoughtful and helpful Editor’s note which is mandatory reading if you are going to read the novel) says that DFW described the book as “torandic,” with elements coming in and going out over and over.

The other key question is just how unfinished is this?  We have no idea.  It feels like it could go on for a ton longer, and yet it no doubt would have been edited down to a more manageable size afterwards.  There are sections that seem like they could have more and others that seems like they would have been trimmed a lot.  And then of course, there could be other things that never even saw the light of day.  None of that should keep anyone from reading the book though. (more…)

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Rebecca Curtis–“The Christmas Miracle” (New Yorker, December 23 & 30, 2013)

Posted in Cats, Christmas, Death, Funny (strange), K'naan, Mali Music, New Yorker, Parenting, Rebecca Curtis, Short Story, Surreal, Yuck! on July 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_23_13Blitt.inddSOUNDTRACK: MALI MUSIC-Tiny Desk Concert #366 (June 21, 2014).

maliMali Music is one man, born in Savannah, GA, but with a somewhat Jamaican vibe.  He plays three songs in this Tiny Desk Concert and each one is quite different.

In the first track, “Fight for You,” he raps over a beat and sample mix played by his DJ (DJ Slow Motion, who is behind the desk with him).  It’s interesting in that he raps with himself (his voice is played by the DJ as well, not looped).  His singing voice in this song tends towards the whiny which I don’t care for, especially since his main voice is so powerful.

The second track, “Make It In” he plays on an acoustic guitar.  The song is clever with lots of amusing asides and slight laughs in the lyrics too.  he more or less raps the verses but sings the chorus.

For the final song, he switches to keyboard (he says he learned piano at a very young age) and he plays a simple, uplifting ballad called “Beautiful.”  There’s a funny moment when he asks the crowd to sing along and then the DJ plays a sample of a crowd singing a long, which makes Mali laugh.

Mali is a pretty positive guy–he talks about things getting better and about himself really making a difference through his music.  It sounds like prideful boasting (and it will be interesting to see if he really does take off), but he also seems sincere in his desire for happiness.  The set reminds me a little of K’naan, at least in spirit.

[READ: June 19, 2014] “The Christmas Miracle”

After really enjoying “The Toast” a few months ago, I was delighted to get another story from Rebecca Curtis and her bristly narrator.

The story opens with the comment that cats were dying, “This happens, of course.”  But in this case they were dying in gory ways not to mention the cats belonged to her nieces.  The girls had seen the dead cats.  The narrator also points out that it is now Christmas, “The most magical, horrible, spiritual, dark, and stressful time of the year.”

Like with another Curtis story, this one is being told to someone, in this case, someone named K, a Russian Communist and “Jewish person who doesn’t believe Jesus was the son of God.”

The narrator explains her situation–she was teaching creative writing but hadn’t written anything herself in years  She had contracted Lyme disease (does this all sound familiar from her other stories?). The disease causes inflammations and bouts of madness and “frank or rude speech, usually set off by eating carbohydrates.”

I love the way that Curtis writes although I’m unclear what Curtis herself believes because her narrator is just so contrary.  Like this awesome sentence:

“If cake was nearby I wasn’t always able to prevent myself from having one bite, then the sugar fed the Bartonella bacteria, which commanded me to eat more, and I would, and then I’d go insane.”  So she asked her sister not to have any sugar filled treats at Christmas.  Which her sister ignored, of course. (more…)

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Steven Millhauser–“Coming Soon” (New Yorker, December 16, 2013)

Posted in Meta, Moon Hooch, New Yorker, Short Story, Steven Millhauser, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert on July 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_16_13Nelson.inddSOUNDTRACK: MOON HOOCH-Tiny Desk Concert #371 (July 7, 2014).

moonhoochI like to do things in an orderly fashion when I write about them, but when it comes to Moon Hooch, order simply must go out the window.

I’ve been enjoying Moon Hooch a lot lately, cranking their CD, watching them play improv live pieces on the side of the road (on YouTube) and now in this Tiny Desk Concert.

So Moon Hooch is three guys–two sax and a drummer.  And they play loud and fast and furious with crazy tempo changes, incredible stop on a dime pauses and some amazingly noisy solos.  In this Concert, the guys (saxophonists Mike Wilbur and Wenzl McGowen and drummer James Muschler) play three songs that all sort of meld together: “Tubes,” “Number 9” and “Bari 3.”

“Tubes” opens up as the picture shows with the baritone sax stuffed with some kind of tube.  I have no idea what it does to the sound (their sounds are so unusual anyhow), but it’s a very funny visual to see him waving this massive thing around while it’s attached with a yellow caution tape.  Especially since the song actually starts with the other sax making crazy skronking noises (this ain’t easy listening music, that’s for sure).  Indeed, when the lead sax is not playing a catchy melody he is wailing and skronking around.

“Number 9” was their first single and the song that introduced me to the band.  The extenda-tubes are gone, and the song sounds super tight and in control, with enough jam elements to keep it interesting.  Drummer Muschler also take a brief solo–it’ nothing too flashy (he’s got a very spare kit), but it really shows off his speed and dexterity which can get lost behind the flash of the saxes, especially when the saxes come back in and the solo wails away.

The final song is their new single.  I love their choreographed playing and the amazing stops and stars that the music has.   This song also features some of the quieter sections before launching into that heavy low sax riffage.

It’s definitely more fun to watch these guys, so check it out here.

[READ: June 13, 2014] “Coming Soon”

Stephen Millhauser seems to get a lot of stories published in the New Yorker.  His last one was in May of 2013 (this one was in December).  I’m starting to think there’s some unfairness in their selections sometimes.

But that’s not meant to reflect on this story at all because it was a fun, meta-story and the crazy related picture (echoes of a small house) was surprisingly apt.

In the story, Levinson has moved from the city to an up and coming town.  His friends in the city made fun of him–talking about the burbs and commodification and what not, yet they all went out to visit him to the weekends.  This particular town (not a sprawling suburb) was being developed quickly, and he relished the newness.   In fact he was almost defensive of how much he loved his new town.

Levinson is 42, dating casually until the right girl comes around.  But he is not settling down at all–he still works hard and he enjoys working in his yard and wandering the town.  He knows his neighbors and everyone is friendly.  It’s perfect. (more…)

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Donald Antrim–“The Emerald Light in the Air” (New Yorker, February 3, 2014)

Posted in Courtney Barnett, Donald Antrim, Liz Phair, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Virginity (Loss of) on June 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_02_03_14Blitt.inddSOUNDTRACK: COURTNEY BARNETT-Tiny Desk Concert #348 (April 14, 2014).

cbThe first time I hear Courtney Barnett’s “Avant Gardener,” I fell in love with it.  A nearly spoken word almost slacker style vocal delivery of some really funny and very clever lyrics.  Plus a catchy chorus.  Swoon.

Then WXPN started playing it to death and I got a little tired of it. Thankfully, they found another track on the album (two eps together with the delightfully odd name The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas).  And that proved to be just as good.  Then I saw her live on a late night show and her live delivery was different and even more compelling.

In this Tiny Desk Concert, she plays the guitar differently on “Avant Gardener”, bringing in some new textures behind her accented Australian voice.  The second song “History Eraser” is another song from the EPs.  She has mentioned loving Nirvana, and I can see a similar style of guitar playing in this one.   The chorus reminds me of Liz Phair’s “Flower” which is no bad thing.

The final song is a new one about a suburb near Melbourne called Preston.  The song is called “Depreston,” and its about house hunting.  It’s another interesting story telling song with a great melody.

Barnett doesn’t do staggeringly original music, but it’s all really enjoyable.  And it’s fun to see just her and her guitar in this setting.

[READ: June 11, 2014] “The Emerald Light in the Air”

This story begins as one thing (which I liked) and slowly turns into something else (which I also liked but not as much).

As it opens, we see a man driving his father’s (and his father’s before that) Mercedes in Charlottesville.  There had been thunderstorms that afternoon and one of the roads is blocked by a large tree.

What I liked about the story was the way his present (driving, planning his dinner for his date tonight) was interspersed almost on a paragraph by paragraph basis with moments from his past.  The past is brought up by the present events–he is having a date with Mary Doan, the woman he lost his virginity to.  They happened to run into each other after all of these years.  Humorously, she didn’t remember him, even though she was a huge part of his life.

He is also thinking about his ex-wife.  He has some of her drawings and paintings in the trunk of his car.  He’s planning on taken them to the dump so they’re out of his house.   So he thinks back to their days as young artists together.  He also thinks back to the days when he was suicidal, and how now he carries a gun but only for his art, not for suicide. (more…)

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Robert Coover–“The Frog Prince” (New Yorker, January 27, 2014)

Posted in Fables, Magic, New Yorker, Robert Coover, Rodney Crowell, Short Story, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert on June 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_01_27_14DeSeve.inddSOUNDTRACK: RODNEY CROWELL-Tiny Desk Concert #365 (June 16, 2014).

rodneyI’ve never heard of Rodney Crowell, although he’s apparently been writing country songs for nigh on 40 years.  And he looks like a rugged old country music star.

But his songs don’t feel all that country.  His first song “Famous Last Words Of A Fool In Love” is a delicate ballad with a pretty guitar melody.  The second song “Jesus Tell My Mama” is more of a blues song (especially when his female backing vocalists kick in and help out).  The final song “God I’m Missing You” (which is not about God) he does solo.  It’s another sad, simple ballad.

Crowell’s voice doesn’t really sound country, although I can see how it would be considered such.  It’s just a powerful voice and I enjoyed hearing him.

All told these three songs barely stretch to ten minutes.  But it’s an interesting snapshot of how an older singer can move out of the genre that he is known for.

Incidentally, NPR is putting up these Tiny Desk concerts so frequently I’m never going to be able to catch up.  Slow down guys!

[READ: June 11, 2014] “The Frog Prince”

I’m surprised to see a second Robert Coover story in the span of just a few months in The New Yorker.  Perhaps because these are only one page, he gets to have a second one.  Like “The Waitress” (which appeared in May), this story plays around with a fairy tale.

I enjoyed this one more than probably any fairy-tale-related story that Coover has done.  Because in this one he really explores the harsh reality behind falling in love with a frog prince.  For indeed a woman does–she kisses a frog and he turns into a prince.  Naturally, she has to divorce her current husband, but she does so willingly to be with this magical prince.

But the harsh reality is that a prince that comes from a frog is going to be very frog-like: bulging eyes, a whip-like tongue and a kind of constant slurp.  However, he also has the secretions that get her very very high.  She enjoyed licking him when he was an amphibian, but when he turned, there was only one place left that had those secretions, his nether regions: “he wasn’t the cleanest of princes, but the trip was worth it.”  She looks forward to spending more and more of her time high. (more…)

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Zadie Smith–“Moonlit Landscape with Bridge” (New Yorker, February 10, 2014)

Posted in Ages and Ages, Anarchy, Death, Natural Disasters, New Yorker, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert, Zadie Smith on June 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

CV1_TNY_02_10_14Hanuka.inddSOUNDTRACK: AGES AND AGES-“Divisionary (Do the Right Thing)” (2014).

agesagesI’ve enjoyed this song in a couple of formats so far–studio version and Tiny Desk version.  Now here’s another one. Here’s how it was set up according to front man Tim Perry:

“We surrounded ourselves with friends, family (my mom is one of the violinists), and all of our favorite musicians from all of our favorite Portland bands,” says Perry. “We reached out to people who’d inspired us over the years: other artists, activists, organizers. We reached out to Northwest Children’s Choir. We reached out to PHAME, a choir of adults with disabilities. We reached out to a lot of other people we didn’t know but wish we did. It was all over and done in four short hours. And it was one of the best days of my life.”

If the song was inspirational before, it’s crazy emotion-inducing now.

[READ: June 10, 2014] “Moonlit Landscape with Bridge”

This title is surprisingly calm and pretty for what the story is really about.  The previous story of hers that I read was set in a kind of dystopian land.  And this one is set in an unnamed country after a life-altering storm.  Either she is writing a post apocalyptic type of novel, or she is exploring very dark themes indeed.

As this story opens we see the Minister of the Interior packing his things.  Slowly it is revealed that the country has been decimated.  He thinks to himself that he was prepared for crippling winds, but not for the water that came with the winds.  Consequently, most of the country is apparently underwater (the details of the storm and the details of the aftermath are incredibly vague).

There is no more Ministry, so his title is superfluous, but because of his title he is given an opportunity to flee the country in a government jet (all other airplanes have been grounded).  On his way to the airport, he sees people struggling, crying, looking for… anything.  They crowd his car and he longs to help them.  His driver, Ari, tells him to ignore them, there’s nothing that he can do for all of them.  But the Minister insists that they pull over so he can dole out the bottles of water he has in the trunk. (more…)

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Dinaw Mengestu–“The Paper Revolution” (New Yorker, January 13, 2014)

Posted in Africa, Dinaw Mengestu, New Yorker, Phish, Racism, Set at School, Short Story, Threats, Violence, War on June 17, 2014| 1 Comment »

CV1_TNY_01_13_14McCall.inddSOUNDTRACK: PHISH-Live Bait 7 (2012).

bait7This free sampler from 2012 is practically a greatest hits collection for me.  There are 8 tracks on the collection and none of them is shorter than 15 minutes.

It opens with a 1995 concert in which “Wilson” segues into “Tweezer” (for a combined total of 30 minutes).  Then there’s a 13 minute version of “Stash” from 2010 and an 18 minute version of “Split Open and Melt” from 1999.  The songs meld very nicely together with just the slightest change in recording sounds making any notable difference.

“You Enjoy Myself” comes from way back in 1992, and it ends with an extended vocal nonsense section–all four of them mouthing crazy sounds in a rhythmic pattern.  The only song of the set that I don’t love is “Runaway Jim,” but the jam section is great in this one.

“Reba” from 1996 works perfectly with “Gumbo” from 1998.  And the set closes with another 1992 recording.  The band opens with “All Things Reconsidered” which Trey explains is a reworking of the NPR theme.  But he then tells the audience that they can sing along to the next song, David Bowie” (which opens with a little nod to the Simpsons).

There’s no sign of a Live Bait 10, unfortunately, but having 9 free releases of highlights from live shows is still pretty sweet.  If only their show in Philly hadn’t sold out.

[READ: June 12, 2014] “The Paper Revolution”

Dinaw Mengestu’s first story (in the 20 under 40 issue) was about a refugee which I felt was more than a stereotypical refugee story.  This new story is about student revolutionaries, and it looks at them in a different (and somewhat confusing) way.

The narrator, who is eventually called Professor Langston by his friend Isaac, is at the University in the capital city, Kampala.  When he first meets Isaac, he finds him an interesting fellow–a man studying politics, because what else is there to study in Africa?  When the narrator says he’s studying literature, that’s when Isaac calls him the professor.

Isaac is full of information that he loves sharing (starting his sentence with “Did you know?”) He lectures about the British rule and their plan to turn this city into a new London if they lost the war.  Isaac fills him with political theory, and the university was the ideal place for it “Every aspiring militant, radical and revolutionary in Eastern and Central Africa was ran to the university.”

He and Isaac watch the “radicals” and can tell from their shoes which ones are truly poor. But there is one boy–so rarely seen as to possibly be invisible–who was the genuine article.  And soon enough there is graffiti on the walls which everyone attributes to him.  But the graffiti is whitewashed and a sign is put up admonishing: “It is a Crime against the country to deface our University walls.” (more…)

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Antonya Nelson–“First Husband” (New Yorker, January 6, 2014)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Antonya Nelson, Black Sabbath, Brownout, Dread Zeppelin, Marriage Trouble, Monopoly, New Yorker, Parenting, Short Story on June 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_01_06_14Ware.inddSOUNDTRACK: BROWNOUT presents Brown Sabbath (2014).

brownout_cvrI was intrigued by the premise of this album: Brownout is a nine piece jazz band and they play a selection of Black Sabbath covers.  The NPR site (where you can stream the album this week) explains:

They played a residence at an Austin club where they devoted a week each to the repertoire of artists like Black Sabbath to break the monotony of a long club gig.  Audience response, not to mention the fun the band had on stage reworking Sabbath classics, led to a full-length album.

So, this band plays a number of Black Sabbath classics, with, oftentimes, the horns standing in for Tony Iommi’s guitars or Ozzy Osbourne’s voice. Although there are also times when the (various) singers in the band try out their inner Ozzy (and often succeed).  They get pretty heavy for the heavy parts (and there are guitars so the do have appropriate guitar sounds from time to time).   But they also play some of the groovier songs too (like “Planet Caravan.”)

Other songs include “The Wizard” (probably my favorite here), “Iron Man” (which is very different from the iconic song, and is only vaguely recognizable as the song, but is very good nonetheless).  They also do “N.I.B.” a bass heavy song which takes on a different style (perhaps a bit too much like Dread Zeppelin).  “Black Sabbath” has no vocals, just a guitar playing the lines–and the horns in the beginning add a suspenseful accent. “Hand of Doom” plays that slinky dark sound very well (I just like the original so much that this one can’t quite compare).  And “Into the Void” which also has no vocals, but sounds a little too marching band here (but the middle instrumental section is really trippy).

So I enjoyed this take on classic Sabbath.  Although I don’t need to listen to it more than once.

[READ: June 13, 2014] “First Husband”

Looking back, I see that I have enjoyed a lot of Antonya Nelson’s stories.  And I enjoyed this one too.  She seems to have a great eye for little details, or interesting aspects of family life that are fun to unravel.  The thing I really liked about this story was the simple construction of the character relationships.

Lovey is married to William.  It is both of their second marriages.  But Lovey’s first husband was married before he married Lovey–she was his second wife.  Lovey’s first husband had several daughters, including Bernadette.  So for a time, Lovey was Bernadette’s stepmother (even though she was close in age to the oldest daughter).  Then when Lovey and her first husband split up, she was no longer Bernadette’s step mother.  But because the marriage lasted for more than a few years, the girls grew close to her, especially Bernadette.  When they divorced, Bernadette actually chose Lovey over her father.  So now Lovey is her ex step mother.  And William is something to Bernadette that there’s not a word for.

I love that.  Even though it’s probably not that uncommon, it is such a linguistic mess that its clear no one was ever prepared for that.

I especially liked that that level of detail is included even though it is not the crux of the story.  It is relevant, but it is not the crux.  The crux is that Bernadette’s husband (whom no one likes) is out drinking.  Again.  Bernadette is nervous about him coming home drunk and the fight they will have so she wonders if she can bring the kids over to Lovey’s house.  It is 2AM.

Lovey doesn’t mind.  Lovey doesn’t have children of her own–she feels that her first husband (Bernadette’s dad) deliberately kept her from having children during her prime years and now she is stuck.  And even though these children are technically nothing to her, their ex- step-grandmother, she still cares them.  And Bernadette’s oldest boy, Caleb, is the reason she is named Lovey–it was something that he could say when he was little.  So when the children come crashing over, Lovey welcomes them without waking William (who needs to be up early for his doctor rounds). (more…)

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