Activity

At the grocer’s I met an old friend who had continued his life as it had begun—in the avant-garde, but not selfishly. He had also organized guerrilla theater demonstrations and had never spoken ill of the people. Most artists do because they have very small audiences and are angry at those audience…

Letty began to squirm out of Ruth’s arms. Mommy, she called, Gramma is squeezing. But it seemed to Ruth that she’d better hold her even closer, because, though no one else seemed to notice—Letty, rosy and soft-cheeked as ever, was falling, already falling, falling out of her brand-new hammock of wo…

Susan, I asked, you still seeing Ed Flores?

Went back to his wife.

Lucky she didn’t kill you, said Ann. I’d never fool around with a Spanish guy. They all have tough ladies back in the barrio.

No, said Susan, she’s unusual. I met her at a meeting. We had an amazing talk. Luisa is a very fi…

But Susan’s seven or eight years younger than Selena. What did she know? Because: People do want to be young and beautiful. When they meet in the street, male or female, if they’re getting older they look at each other’s face a little ashamed. It’s clear they want to say, Excuse me, I didn’t mean t…

Mr. Wong, the political guidance counselor in the Travel Service, said it was because of Antonioni’s film on China and his denigrating attraction to archaic charm. His middle-power chauvinism looked on China as the soufflé of Europe, to rise and fall according to the nourishment beaten into it by A…