Sancho
01-30-2012, 06:35 PM
Does anybody care to discuss the short story from this week’s (January 30, 2012) New Yorker? I was fairly taken by it. It’s set in the summer of 1937 in an Irish-immigrant, working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn (I’m pretty sure). There’s a young woman who’s afflicted by poor eyesight and wears thick glasses, and a young man who’s afflicted by short-leg syndrome and wears a built-up shoe.
When her daughters began dating she told them, “Here’s a good rule: If he looks over your head while you’re talking, get rid of him. Walter Harnett…” But by then they would throw up their hands: “Jesus, Mom no more Walter Harnett stories.”
I don’t want to ruin the story by giving up anything else, so I’ll stop there.
One more thing: I liked the illustration too.
When her daughters began dating she told them, “Here’s a good rule: If he looks over your head while you’re talking, get rid of him. Walter Harnett…” But by then they would throw up their hands: “Jesus, Mom no more Walter Harnett stories.”
I don’t want to ruin the story by giving up anything else, so I’ll stop there.
One more thing: I liked the illustration too.