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Archive for the ‘Short Story’ Category

Yoko Tawada–The Bridegroom Was a Dog (stories) (1994) [translated 1998]

Posted in Advice, Dogs, Dreams, Fables, Margaret Mitsutani, Rheostatics, Sex, Sexism, Short Books, Short Story, Small Books, Surreal, Trains, Translation, Travel, Yoko Tawada, tagged on March 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

dogSOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-The Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario (May 2, 1998).

musichalThis show sounds different from all of their other live shows on Rheostatics Live around this time.  I don’t know much about The Music Hall, but it sounds like a more formal venue–like a bigger, perhaps seated, crowd.

There is also a string section and the ever reliable Kevin Hearn playing along with them.  Well, string section might be stretching it–there are musicians from UofT playing along with them, including beautiful violins on “Self Service Gas Station” and a surprise flute on “Take Me in Your Hand.”  There’s also a bunch of the musicians playing along on “King of the Past” which means I finally get to hear the great end section with a violin–but it gets cut off!  Agh.

With Kevin playing with them, they showcase some tracks from the Group of 7 release (which they explain didn’t have titles but now sort of do).  So they play “Boxcar Song” and “Yellow Days Under a Lemon Sun.”  They also play “Monkeybird” which they say is from Harmelodia (even though it’s not out yet).

There are a lot of glitches and weird things happening with this tape which is kind of a shame as it is a pretty unique concert.  It’s also only 90 minutes, which might just means a lot of the show was cut off.

[READ: January 3, 2014] The Bridegroom was a Dog

I bought this book years ago based on some recommendation or other.  Then I recently received a new version of it from New Directions.  Their version was just the title story.  This original book (which had the same translator, Margaret Mitsutani) contains the title story and two other longish stories.

Because I just read the other book (and its the same translation) I didn’t re-read “Bridegroom.”  But I did read the other two stories “Missing Heels” and “The Gotthard Railway.”

“Bridegroom” was certainly a weird story.  But “Missing Heels” may be even stranger.  I say this because of what may or may not be deliberate ambiguity in the word heel.  As the story begins the protagonist is stared at by people because of her heels.  I assumed she meant the heels of her shoes.  But by the end of the story it seems that she means the heels of her feet, which is even stranger. (more…)

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Yoko Tawada–The Bridegroom Was a Dog (1994) [translated 1998–New Directions Pearl, 2012]

Posted in Advice, Africa, Dogs, Fables, K'naan, Margaret Mitsutani, New Directions Pearls, Sex, Short Books, Short Story, Small Books, Tiny Desk Concert, Yoko Tawada, Yuck! on February 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

   bridegroo,SOUNDTRACK: K’Naan-Tiny Desk Concert #34 (November 9, 2009).

knaanI really only know K’naan from his song “Wavin’ Flag” which was the World Cup anthem in 2010.  It’s an uplifting anthem which would be schmaltzy except that K’naan is Somali-born, spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there until the start of the Somali Civil War in 1991, when his family moved to Canada.  “Wavin’ Flag” was for the people Somalia and their aspirations for freedom.

In this set (the first ever hip-hop Tiny Desk Concert–although there is very little hip-hop in the set), K’naan plays three songs. “Take a Minute” is quite beautiful.  It’s funny to me the rap section kind of spoils the song  but because K’naan is a much better singer than rapper.

“Fatima,” which has a less interesting musical style than the other songs (perhaps it’s better when not in this Tiny Desk format) is startling lyrically.  It’s about childhood friend of his, with the harrowing line–“what did the gunman say before he took you away.”

The final song is “Wavin’ Flag” (which was popular but nowhere near as big a hit as it would be soon enough). The anthemic nature of the song still sounds inspiring in this stripped own format.

I’m not a big fan of this style of music in general–poppy/R&Bish, but K’naan has a great sense of melody and brings a very interesting perspective that makes his style unique.  And most importantly, he has a good, subtle voice.  This is a good introduction to his music.

[READ: January 3, 2014] The Bridegroom was a Dog

In continuing the “small book” idea, I recently subscribed to the New Directions Pearl series.  It is a collection of smallish books–novellas or short stories–in starkly beautiful binding.  This was the second book I received in the series (I haven’t read the first one yet).  Incidentally, this book has a list of the other pearls, and I rather hope they will send me some past Pearls as well, as they are quite a great collection.

This was an interesting selection to me because I actually own this book already (it’s the same translator, Margaret Mitsutani).  Although as it turns out the book I own (which has the same title) is actually three short stories while this one is only the title story. I bought the book in 1998 and never read it (there is a bookmark that suggests I read a few pages, but I didn’t remember a thing).  So I was happy to get reintroduced to the book and to finally read it.

And I intend to read the other two stories in the near future as well.

This is a peculiar story (as the title indicates).  In it a teacher, Mitsuko Kitamura runs the Kitamura School which is described as a cram school–an extracurricular school.  And the students learn some interesting things.  Like “snot paper.”  She suggests that using used tissues is better because they are warm and wet.  And indeed, she goes so far as to say that you should use “snot paper” when wiping your behind because “it feels even better.” (more…)

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Trinie Dalton–Sweet Tomb (2010) [Madras Press: Series One, Book Three]

Posted in Canadian Music, Madras Press, Rheostatics, Short Story, Small Books, Surreal, Trinie Dalton, Vampires, Witches, Yuck!, tagged on February 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

madras3SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Barrymore’s Ottawa, ON (January 17, 1997).

barryAfter two recordings in Barrymore’s in 1996, Rhesostatics Live has another concert from Barrymore‘s to open 1997.  And this one is fantastic.  The sound is perfect, the band sounds great and they play a wonderful selection of songs.

They open with a long version of “Record Body Count,” and a rousing “Dope Fiends and Booze Hounds.”  They are also having a lot of fun on stage with the lengthy introduction to “Sweet, Rich, Beautiful and Mine” and the fun teasing that opens “Saskatchewan.”

But the most fun comes in “Fan Letter to Michael Jackson” which sees the band joking around and sounding almost giddy. It’s not the best rendition of the song for novices to the band, but for long time fans, this must have been fun to see.  It’s also amazing that the band has played yet another 2 hours plus show.

[READ: January 8, 2014] Sweet Tomb

I don’t usually mention the book publisher when I post about books, but I’m quite taken with Madras Press.  From their website:

Madras Press publishes limited-edition short stories and novella-length booklets and distributes the proceeds to a growing list of non-profit organizations chosen by our authors.  The format of our books provides readers with the opportunity to experience stories on their own, with no advertisements or miscellaneous stuff surrounding them.

The format is a 5″ x 5″ square books that easily fit into a pocket.  At present there are four series with four books in each series.

Proceeds from Dalton’s book go to the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants.

I have a lot of strange synchronicites with the books I read.  As it turns out, yesterday’s comic book was about a witch and this collection of related short stories is also about a witch.  It’s especially strange because I didn’t know that either book would have a witch character at all (even Zombillenium–it seems like it would be about zombies not witches).  So it’s funny to read two different stories and to see two entirely different attitudes about witches.  In Zombiellenium, she says that being a witch is not hereditary and yet in Sweet Tomb, she says it is (and then wonders why anyone would pass that on to her children).

So yes, these are linked short stories (I assume, and not a novel with chapter titles).  They are all about Candy, a witch, and her exploits.  Typically, I summarize each short story, but it’s more interesting to talk about this narrative as a whole. (more…)

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Rebecca Lee–Bobcat (2010) [Madras Press: Series One, Book Two]

Posted in Canadian Music, Food, Madras Press, Marriage Trouble, Rebecca Lee, Rheostatics, Sex, Short Story, Small Books, tagged on February 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

madras2 SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Live at The Corel Center, Ottawa, ON, (November 28, 1996 & November 29, 1996).

core;There are two Rheostatics shows recorded at the Corel Centre (Nov 28, Nov 29).  This was a gig opening for the Tragically Hip, which was probably the biggest crowd they ever played to.  Gord Downie even mentions them on the live album that the Hip recorded from this tour (Live Between Us).

The Rheos usually play sets that are about two hours.  These opening slots are 45 minutes, so with the two shows together you get nearly a normal Rheos show.  And there’s only a little duplication among these two shows–their big hit “Claire,” their new hit “Bad Time to Be Poor” and, interestingly, “Motorino.”

Otherwise, between the two shows we get the other great songs: “Fat,” “California Dreamlime,” “Self-Serve Gas Station,” “Fan Letter To Michael Jackson,” “All The Same Eyes,”  “Aliens,” “Dopefiends And Boozehounds,” “Feed Yourself,” “Horses,” and the little instrumentals (48 seconds) “Artenings Made of Gold” and (1:41) “Digital Beach.”

The sound quality isn’t spectacular–it’s clearly a fan recording.  But the quality is certainly good enough to really enjoy.  These come across as a kind of best of from 1996.

[READ: January 10, 2014] Bobcat

I don’t usually mention the book publisher when I post about books, but I’m quite taken with Madras Press.  From their website:

Madras Press publishes limited-edition short stories and novella-length booklets and distributes the proceeds to a growing list of non-profit organizations chosen by our authors.  The format of our books provides readers with the opportunity to experience stories on their own, with no advertisements or miscellaneous stuff surrounding them.

The format is a 5″ x 5″ square books that easily fit into a pocket.  At present there are four series with four books in each series.

Proceeds from Lee’s book go to Riverkeeper.org.

I really enjoyed this story a lot.  It has many elements that seem disparate and yet they blend perfectly at the end.

The story is set at a dinner party.  The hostess is planning a tureen, although she acknowledges that it probably won’t be very good.  She is also picking a fight with her husband about the book he is writing.  In the novel, there’s a woman he fantasizes about and she knows it is not her.  She argues that it is really his editor, with whom he spends a lot of time (even though the character is nothing like her).  He denies it outright–laughs it off in fact. (more…)

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Aimee Bender–The Third Elevator (2010) [Madras Press: Series One, Book One]

Posted in Aimee Bender, Canadian Music, Dave Bidini music, Madras Press, Rheostatics, Short Story, Small Books, Surreal, tagged on February 12, 2014| 2 Comments »

13_Bender_TTE_Cover-300x300SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Live at Barrymore’s, Ottawa, ON, (February 2, 1996 & May 23, 1996).

barryThere are many many Rheostatics shows recorded at Barrymore’s in Ottawa.  These two are the earliest and, strangely perhaps, are only a few months apart.

The first show is over two hours long with a great set list.  The problem is the audio.  It was recorded from the floor and, like any bootleg quality show, you can hear more audience than band.  That’s not entirely true, but you can’t hear the band talk at all and during songs you hear clinking glasses and conversations.  It’s kind of a shame, because they cover Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” but you can barely tell what it is.  So, it’s not a great show except for diehards.

The May 23 show, on the other hand, sounds great.  The notes say it was also recorded from the audience, and yet it is crystal clear.  And the set list doesn’t differ too too much from the Feb 2 show.  The opening of the set sounds a little funny–the microphones are too loud or the guitars are too quiet, so “Claire” sounds off, but the rest of the show is very good.  And as it does not feature Dave Clark, but rather Don Kerr on drums, the zaniness that Clark brought is gone, although the band is still quite funny.

There’s a very funny story about chickadees being quite the bad ass in terms of birds, and Tielli drew a great banner featuring a bad ass chickadee (see bottom of post).  Tielli also mentions Nick Buzz, his side project which had an album out at this time.  Bidini tells a great story about meeting and interviewing Joey Ramone (and getting his glasses fixed).

There’s talk of “Four Little Songs” have multiple sections so you never know what they’ll play, but I don’t think that every happened.  And, finally, Tielli evidently had green hair that night (which leads to an impromptu version of “Heat Miser” (and his explanation of where the song came from).

This is a great show and a great introduction to an early Rheostatics setlist.

[READ: January 8, 2014] The Third Elevator

I don’t usually mention the book publisher when I post about books, but I’m quite taken with Madras Press.  From their website:

Madras Press publishes limited-edition short stories and novella-length booklets and distributes the proceeds to a growing list of non-profit organizations chosen by our authors.  The format of our books provides readers with the opportunity to experience stories on their own, with no advertisements or miscellaneous stuff surrounding them.

The format is a 5″ x 5″ square books that easily fit into a pocket.  At present there are four series with four books in each series.

Proceeds from Bender’s book go to InsideOutWriters.org.

For a first book from a new publisher, this is certainly a peculiar story.  It begins with a swan and a queen. The swan is the queen’s pet and never leaves her side.  She wants the swan happily paired off with another beautiful swan, but he is quite picky.  Until he meets a bluebird. The swan falls for the bluebird and they pair off.  Soon the bluebird is sitting on an egg.  But when it opens, it is not a bird at all, but a cloud, which hangs around and which the swan tries to protect.  So far, so allegorical.

Then the story shifts two miles away to a glassed in lobby of a building that has three elevators.  One goes into the ground where miners work.  The miners are not allowed to leave the mine.  They simply fill up the elevator with gold and send it up to the surface.  A second eevator opens into the forest.  The third elevator goes up into the sky.

Then we meet a logger.  The logger is amazing at cutting things down.  But whenever he so much as harms a tree it makes his insides burst. So he cuts down telephone poles and other man-made objects.  And he is soon asked to leave the logging community, despite his family ties to it. (more…)

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Jeffrey Eugenides—“Find the Bad Guy” (New Yorker, November 18, 2013)

Posted in All Songs Considered, Drinking, Jeffrey Eugenides, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Sex, Short Story, Swedish Music, The Tallest Man on Earth, Tiny Desk Concert, WXPN 88.5 FM--Philadelphia, PA on January 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_11_18_13Tomine.inddSOUNDTRACK: TALLEST MAN ON EARTH-Tiny Desk Concert #26 (September 14, 2009).

tmoeI was not aware of The Tallest Man on Earth before hearing him on All Songs Considered.  And then WXPN started playing one of his songs, so he became somewhat familiar to me.  I have since listened to some of his concerts and this Tiny Desk Concert and I really like him a lot.

So the Tallest Man on Earth is Kristian Matsson, a Swedish folksinger with a great guitar picking style and a deep powerful gritty voice.  He plays three songs in this set.  “I Won’t Be Found” has wonderful fast guitar picking that contrasts wonderfully with his simple singing melody.  It’s a great song.  As is “The Gardener” which sounds very different.  This one is largely strummed–a bouncy, jaunty strum. It seems to contain the origin of his unusual stage name (or perhaps it just a fun allusion to it).

“Pistol Dreams” has more great finger picking (and reminds me a little of Richard Thompson).  It’s a sweet song, and his gruff voice once again provides excellent contrast.

I hope to hear more from The Tallest Man on Earth.  Check it out.

[READ: January 30, 2014] “Find the Bad Guy”

This story was surprisingly dark (I don’t think of Eugenides as quite so dark).  It starts out with the narrator talking about the house that he and his wife have owned for 12 years.  And yet they still haven’t gotten the smell of the previous owners completely out of it.  (There’s a nice payoff to this idea later in the story).

But that’s not the point.  The point is that he has recently been kicked out of his house—given a restraining order, in fact.  But since he knows the plans of his house he knows that he can stand right where he is—just inside the front fence—and know that he’s not too close.

The story has trappings of being current—he plays Words with Friends with his daughter (her name is mrsbieber), which I found to be just slightly out of touch.  But that’s irrelevant.

The narrator is Charlie Daniels (not that one—he goes by Charlie D to avoid confusion, especially since he works in music).  He met his wife at a radio station.  She worked at a country station, although she didn’t like country music.  Johanna was from Germany (her name was Lübeck, but everyone pronounced it Lubbock).  But the thing about her was that she was very tall (not that tall in Germany, she said).  And Charlie D was suave, so he asked her clever things like how the weather was up there and if she ever played basketball.  She didn’t fall for this, of course, but then one day she asked if they could get married so she could get a green card.  He said sure. (more…)

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Chinelo Okparanta—“Benji” (New Yorker, November 11, 2013)

Posted in Chinelo Okparanta, Dark Meat, Humiliation, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Sex, Short Story, The Swell Season, Tiny Desk Concert, Travel, Virginity (Loss of) on January 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_11_11_13Blitt.inddSOUNDTRACK: DARK MEAT-Tiny Desk Concert #25 (August 31, 2009).

darkmeatFor those keeping track, I wrote about Tiny Desk Concert #24 (The Swell Season) quite some time ago.

Dark Meat is a ramshackle band which I had not heard of before this Tiny Desk Concert.  The blurb says that they have had as many as 20 people in their band and often play loud rambunctious music.    In this Tiny Desk Concert, there are only 8 of them (they have reduced for this tour), but they’re still a huge band for a Tiny Desk.

This concert is an acoustic jam –mandolin, guitars, trombone and piccolo—and is apparently quite different from their usual show.  As such, I can’t really imagine what they typically sound like, because they sound like a pretty solid folk band.

Initially I wasn’t all that impressed, but after a couple listens I found myself getting into their sloppy fun folk rock.  I enjoyed their first song, “The Faint Smell of Moss” a little more than the others because of the great backing vocals, and the possibly slightly off sounding trombone.  The second song, “Dead Man” is long, but it has a fun middle second in which the singer invites the office to sing along (and howl like dogs).  “When the Shelter Came’ is a rambling track which I think actually suffers from the trombone at the end.

I don’t know anything else about the band, but I imagine them playing folk festivals.  I’ll be they’re fun to see live, although I can admit that i didn’t find their songs all that memorable.

 [READ: January 22, 2014] “Benji”

“Benji” is the story of wealth and idleness.  As the story opens, we learn that Benji, now 40 years old, is the last remaining male in the family.  His mother, Mrs Anyaogu  is telling her guest that Benji must choose someone to marry because anyone who remains unmarried, even a man, is suspect at that age.

Then we meet the guest who Benji’s mother is speaking to—a woman named Alare.  Alare also got married pretty late—in her thirties–to a man who was about 40.  Her husband was not wealthy—he was a gardener.  And this was something of a sore subject in their marriage,  Of course, he must have also felt the embarrassment of his employment, but that was his lot in life.

Alare and Mrs Anyaogu became friends when Alare’s congregation had disintegrated because of a scandal with the pastor and she joined Mrs Anyaogu’s Deep Life church.

Alare was aware of the wealth that the Anyaogus possessed, but she hadn’t witnessed it until today.  While the house was beautiful, she felt that the furnishing were tacky—not entirely, but enough.  Nevertheless, the lunch was nice and the food was delicious.  The groundskeeper, Godwin, kept the garden beautiful and Benji complimented the man on his loyalty and hard work. (more…)

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Alice Munro–“The Bear Came Over the Mountain” (New Yorker, October 21, 2013–originally published December 27, 1999)

Posted in Alice Munro, Bon Iver, Canadian Content, Humiliation, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Sarah Siskind, Short Story, Tiny Desk Concert on January 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: SARAH SISKIND-Tiny Desk Concert #23 (July 27, 2009).

sarahsI don’t know much about Sarah Siskind.  She is a country-ish singer who seems to have gained some fame once Bon Iver started covering her song “Lovin’s for Fools.”  She tells a pretty interesting story about how he came to learn her song (by looping it–thereby missing out on the words to the second chorus.  And yes she did wonder why he didn’t play that chorus).

She plays three songs in this Concert. I like her guitar work, especially on the first song, “Falling Stars.”  But there’s something about either her voice or her delivery that I just don’t really like. I’ve listened a few times ow and I have grown to appreciate her style, but it’s just a matter of personal taste that I don’t really care for her.

Listen for yourself.

[READ: January 17, 2014] “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”

One thing that I like so much about Alice Munro is that her stories are so timeless.  This story was originally published in 1999 (wonder why they didn’t re-publish that first story which I wrote about yesterday), but there are no real indicators of when it was written.  (There are some clues to the time frame of the story, but it was clearly not set in the late 90s).

This is a straightforward but fairly complex story, with a lot of emotional heft.  A married couple, Grant and Fiona, have been together for a long time.  Fiona had always written notes to herself, but Grant sensed recently that the notes were becoming somewhat alarming.  Instead of books to read or appointments to keep, she was writing “cutlery” on the kitchen drawers. Then she started forgetting normal things–like how to drive home or that something which she thought had happened last year had actually happened 12 years ago. Not major problems, but causes for concern.

And so, Fiona was sent, at first temporarily, to Meadowlake.  And Grant was not to show up for the first month–they found that patients settled in better if they were not reminded of their house and old life.  After a month of wondering about her and thinking about her, Grant goes to Meadowlake, excited to see Fiona.  But when he arrives she is not in her room–the touching reuniting scene will not be enacted as he pictured.  And the nurse seems rather impatient with him when he asks where she is. (more…)

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Nadia Bozak–“Greener Grass” (The Walrus, January/February 2014)

Posted in Canadian Content, Dave Douglas Brass Ecstasy, Douglas Coupland, Nadia Bozak, Parenting, Rufus Wainwright, Short Story, The Walrus, Tiny Desk Concert on January 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

2014-01SOUNDTRACK: THE DAVE DOUGLAS BRASS ECSTASY-Tiny Desk Concert #22 (July 20, 2009).

ddThis is the first jazz Tiny Desk Concert.  I imagine it was very loud in there!

So the Brass Ecstasy is a five piece band with trumpet, tuba, french horn and trombone (and drums).  They play three songs: “Spirit Moves” and “Twilight of the Dogs” two compositions by Douglas (who plays trumpet) and “This Love Affair” a Rufus Wainwright song!

The originals are jazzy and fun with a kind of old school feel.  And “Twilight of the Dogs” is even political (and yet instrumental).  I don’t know the Rufus Wainwright song, so i don’t know how well they do it, but i never would have guessed it was one of his.

The blurb says that the trombonist left the contents of his spit valve under Bob’s desk.  Ew.

To see everything (but the spit valve) click here.

[READ: January 18, 2014] “Greener Grass”

This is a story about Canadian hippie parents, which I rather liked.

The daughter of the story is named Shell.  Shell and her parents are house hunting–they currently live in a rental and want to get a proper house–for one where they can have an art studio and a garden.  So when they see an interesting house, they stop the Dodge Dart and decide to investigate the place.

They knock on the door and a boy answers.  He is drinking Mountain Dew and has a harelip.  He calls out “Gare” and a man who Shell calls “Shark Nose” appears. Shark Nose tells them that the house is solid and shows Shell’s dad around.  He talks about all the good things in the house and the sad fact that the basement is always damp (the foster kids all have asthma, so they can’t really stay down there).  [Interestingly, between this and Douglas Coupland’s Eleanor Rigby, that’s two stories that are critical of the Canadian foster system in the 1970s].

Even though the dad is a hippie (big of beard and seeking places to garden), he is no fool.  And he climbs up on the roof.  He also gets all of the dogs (who suddenly start barking) to silence with a shrill whistle.  But the story really focuses on Shell and the little boy. (more…)

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Thomas McGuane–“Weight Watchers” (New Yorker, November 4, 2013″)

Posted in Chulo, Food, Gripe, Marriage Trouble, New Yorker, Parenting, Sex, Short Story, Thomas McGuane, Yuck! on January 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_11_04_13Brunetti.inddSOUNDTRACK: GRIPE-“Man vs Cop” CHULO-“Hombre vs Tombo” Split Single (2012).

chuloI downloaded the Gripe album yesterday and then saw this split single.  It has two songs which total 59 seconds.

Gripe has like a typical grindcore sound–pummeling and tinny.  All 32 seconds of “Man vs Cop” contain a pummeling riff, screamed vocals and even a ride cymbal at some point.

I was more intrigued by Chulo because I was surprised at how different a band could sound within the same limited soundscape of grindcore.  The big difference for me was the real presence of a bass guitar.  As “Hombre vs Tombo” opens, there’s a few seconds of pummeling sound (although their snare drum sounds more like a bongo) and then the sound drops out and there’s a cool heavy bass sound (for two notes).  Then the pummeling resumes, although again, much more bass heavy.  The other big difference is that they sing in Spanish.  I’m curious to know if that slightly different sound is a Latin American sound for grindcore or if it is just their own.

If you have a minute you can listen (or download for free) the single here.

[READ: January 7, 2014] “Weight Watchers”

This story began in a very weird way.  In it, an adult’s father has been kicked out of his house because his wife is mad that he now weighs more than 250 pounds.  Something that she has done on multiple occasions.  I find this reason/excuse so incomprehensible that it really impacted the rest of my reading this story.  This “problem” did put things in motion but was more or less ignored through the story and it seems that there were other more pressing issues that they needed to worry about.

When we meet the father, he has come to stay with his son. He believed that anything “done for pleasure was escapism.”  So we learn he has no tolerance for pleasure, except “when it came to seducing his secretaries and most of my mother’s friends.” Then we learn that his mother got pregnant as soon as she could when his father got back from the war because she figured that would get him to settle down.  his father basically resented him for his whole life.  So I guess the whole family is screwed up.

Especially when we find out that the son has witnessed all manner of “disturbances,” meaning his parents’ infidelities, in their house.  One of them was a very weird scene of food and eroticism.  Ew. (more…)

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