A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life

two paragraphs about a man and a woman who meet and care more about being liked than about liking

Death Is Not the End

basically one long sentence about an old and distinguished poet and his disgustingly decadent life. not fun to read but very ripe for analysis

Forever Overhead

boy turns 13 and climbs up the diving board (as a metaphor for puberty, etc)

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

• 14, St. Davids PA: guy who has to shout "Victory for the Forces of Democratic Freedom"
• 15, Bridgewater MA (institution): guy whose father had anger management issues so he had to be gagged
• 11, Vienna VA: Q's bf or exbf hating that he's on eggshells all the time (due to Q, in his POV, being overly paranoid?) and thus leaving Q because of her fears that he'll leave
• 3, Trenton NJ: overheard dialogue about a guy who sees a stood-up girl at an airport and guess what he does
• 30, Drury UT: guy who married someone who had a good body even after giving birth and is now worried about how that looks to Q
• 31, Roswell GA: a guy talking about "Great Lovers" being another type of notcher--selfish about being generous--while giving Q weed
• 36: Aurora IL (domestic violence center): on how his victim was clearly just playing the victim and he was unable to change her, so he got help for himself

Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (xi)

guy who dreams about being blind

The Depressed Person

such a bitch to read but so, so real

The Devil is a Busy Man

first person, about "Daddy" and how he would sell things for $5 or $10

Think

a man being seduced by the younger sister of his wife's college roommate but he can't because it feels too artifical

Signifying Nothing

first person, a guy who remembers his father wagging his dick at him one day when he was 8 or 9, but his dad steadfastly denies it. idk if i like the ending

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

• 40, Benton Ridge OH: the guy with the arm (the Asset)
• 42, Peoria Heights IL: his father worked as a hotel bathroom attendant
• 2, Capitola CA: some guy telling Q that he's worried she'll get hurt because he wants her to fall in love with him more than he wants to fall in love with her. this one resonated with me in a pretty uncomfortable way
• 48, Appleton WI: the pretentious af guy who talks about chicken-sexing and bonded play and then weeping
• 51, Fort Dodge IA: short one; guy worries that he won't be able to get it up (I assume) but then he does
• 19, Newport OR: some guy trying to hit on Q by telling her she's smart
• 46, Nutley NJ: the Holocaust/bottle rape guy

Datum Centurio

set in the future. definitions of the word "date" in a much more technocratic world. didn't care for this one

Octet

LOVED THIS ONE. Pop quizzes.

• 4: two drug addicts sharing a coat; which one lives?
• 6: X and Y are close friends but then something happens and X stops being friendly but Y keeps cuckily hanging around; ends with the author concluding this is a bad question
• 7: mother gives up custody of her child to ensure the child has a trust fund
• 6(a): X's father in law, whom X hates, dies, and he weeps at his funeral due to his distress at how bad it looks to hate his father-in-law. (A) how does he eulogize him; (B) evaluate X being angry at his wife for not catching on despite him making every effort to prevent her from catching on
• 9: you are DFW and trying to make the reader feel something. this one is like 90% footnotes. ends with "So decide."

Adult World (I)

Jeni worries that her forex trader husband isn't happy with their sex life despite all evidence to the contrary, and has unsettling dreams about the two of them (involving ambulances, sneezing, and the like), resulting in her turning to her ex-boyfriend (who realises he still loves her). a warning about the dangers of solipsism

Adult World (II)

written as notes/schemata. ex proposes they have a tryst, Jeni just goes home and realises that her husband is a chronic masturbator. not a huge fan of this one or its overly deconstructive nature

The Devil is a Busy Man

first-person narrator does a charitable thing and really wants no one to know about it and in fact goes to such extremes to ensure no one knows about it because of, essentially, second-order vanity

Church Not Made With Hands

for E. Shofstahl, 1977-1987

about a ten-year-old girl named Esther who drowns, interspersed with her stepfather(?) Day and Eric Yang (good at rotating). really beautifully written though i'd have to re-read it to make more sense of it

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

• 59, Eastchester NY: guy who watched Bewitched a lot and as a result had this fantasy of freezing time, but then got lost in the logical and metaphysical paradoxes thereof (loved this)
• 72, North Miami Beach FL: guy who loves women and ends with "oh no not again behind you look out!" wat
• 28, Ypsilanti MI: dialogue between two guys talking about what women want (i.e., to be rescued)

Tristan: I Sold Sissee Nar To Ecko

Ovid's Metamorphoses set in Hollywood? I don't know enough about the source material so I didn't really get this one

On His Deathbed, Holding Your Hand, The Acclaimed New Young Off-Broadway Playwright's Father Begs a Boon

a sort of play, written in the second person, about a father on his deathbed (visibly and eventfully about to die) who hated his sickly son for occupying his wife's attention. you (the son) interject near the end (cruelly): "But Father it's me. Your own son. All of us, standing here, loving you so."

Suicide as a Sort of Present

about a mother who hated her child and also herself for hating her child and i don't really know tbh. i guess the child commits suicide

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

• 20, New Haven CT: Crunchy Granola story that devolves into him insulting Q: "Judge me, you chilly cunt. You dyke, you bitch, cooze, cunt, slut, gash. Happy now?"

Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (xxiv)

no clue what this one is about. narrator is in a kitchen, with his (?) family, his brother making a face?

Yet Another Example of the Porousness of Certain Borders (vi)

Reconstructed Transcript of Mr. Walter D. ("Walt") DeLasandro Jr.'s Parents' Marriage's End, May 1956

very short, just dialogue. they flip a coin for custody of their son