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Laura Kunzelman
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Short Story Review for THE YELLOW by Samantha Hunt
Samantha Hunt is a writer and artist. According to Random House Australia, Hunt has just won the new “5 under 35” award from the 2006 National Book Awards. She has been published in The New Yorker and McSweeney’s among others, been featured on “This American Life” and has had her short fiction nominated for a Pushcart Prize and included in the anthology “This is Not Chick Lit”. Hunt currently teaches writing and bookmaking at Pratt Institute, and is a graduate of The University of Vermont where she studied science and English.
The Yellow was published in the New Yorker on November 29, 2010.
The Yellow:
The reader is introduced right away to Roy, a 42 year-old loser who still lives at home. We get a glimpse of what this sexy man is like as he eats a cheese and onion sandwich, and abandons it to watch TV.
One night, sick of too much TV, Roy, like a little kid decides to paint his bedroom to improve himself. I do not see how painting his room will help him, but I humour him and read on. Roy thinks to himself that he doesn’t need sleep, who needs sleep? Obviously not him because he is a dead beat who mooches off his parents and doesn’t have a job to wake up to. Go on Roy.
“And by eleven the next morning his work was done. He sat cross-legged on the floor inhaling heady fumes.” That explains a lot. Roy painted his room bright yellow using the paint his dad uses to paint the curb. Smart Roy.
After Roy wrecks his parent’s walls, he goes for a drive. Fiddling with the radio like an indecisive teenager, Roy hits a dog. Like anyone would do, he resolves to carry this bloody carcass to every house until he can find the owner of the mangled mutt. This is actually pretty decent of him, but who knows why he was really doing it. He might have just not had anything better to do. After all, he had already finished painting his room, so his schedule was wide open.
Luckily the first house he goes to is where the carcass belongs. Naturally Susanne Martin, who is on the verge of a breakdown, allows a stranger carrying her dead dog into her home and lay the dog, Curtains, on the carpet. For some reason Roy offers to pay for a replacement dog even though Curtains was an old mutt. He writes a check for $200 when he only has $216 to his name.
You may be thinking, what happens next. Well, let me tell you. Roy and Suzzie proceed to commit adultery next to Suzzie's dead dog on the floor while her husband and children are out to a movie.
While Roy is still inside Susanne, Curtains comes back to life and starts licking Roy’s scapula. I mean, we've all been through this. Roy and Susanne are dumbfounded. They now act like lovers; he calls her Anne and she kneels in front of Roy resting on his knees.
Naturally Anne tells Roy that he has to kill the dog all over again. Of course! She was upset before and making him pay for a new dog and now that she has her beloved dog back, she wants the damned thing dead? This lady is of her rocker for sure.
It may sound as if I disliked the story, but the thing is, I actually found it quite enjoyable and Hunt told the story extremely well and even managed to fit in what is apparently a zombie dog. It caught my attention straight away and maintained it throughout. There are two very dysfunctional characters and their stories appealed to me. Well written and worth a read.
What crossed my mind as I read The Yellow:
1) Roy sounds like a real winner. I know how this all ends for him. He will go back to his mom and dad’s, eat a plate of nachos even though his mom tells him to stop eating all the cheese and watch infomercials until four in the morning. I’ve seen it all before.
2) Now that his room is painted yellow, Roy doesn’t feel so confused? Really? Confused about what? As to why he decided to have an onion and cheddar sandwich for lunch rather than make some soup or something?I guess you would be confused. I mean, I would feel confused too if I was a fat slob with nothing going for me. He should be confused about what your mother and father are going to do to him once they find out that he used their bright yellow curb paint to paint his room.
3) You have sex next to your dead dog? Real classy Susanne.
4) That dog is a champ. His head was floppy, he was "certainly dead," and there was blood everywhere. Where did this zombie dog come from? There is no use trying to kill Curtains again because it looks like he ain't goin' nowhere.
Read this for yourself. I couldn’t make this stuff up.
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/11/29/101129fi_fiction_hunt?currentPage=all
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Laura Kunzelman
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Audrhea Lande, Winnipeg author of Annie’s Bright Idea, is a former teacher and principal with a knack for writing.
About five years ago Lande started to write a story that her mother used to tell her and her siblings when they were young. At the time, she didn’t know it, but the story that her mother told her had been a true one.
The back cover of the book describes it as "a true Christmastime adventure. It is about 9 year-old Annie and her little sister Olly who set out on the morning of November 18,1933 to find Santa Claus. Making their way through unknown parts of the city to the Eaton's department store, Annie and Olly discover Santa in unexpected places. Using actual photos and newspaper clippings from 1933, Annie's Bright Idea draws a picture of Winnipeg during the Dirty Thirties and proves that with the unwavering faith of children we can all find the magic in Christmas - even in the darkest of times."
Annie’s Bright Idea is geared towards children ages 7-9 as the two characters in the book are aged seven and nine. “When I was a teacher, I noticed that children are most interested in reading about children their own age.”
“It wasn’t until I was older that I realized it had been a true story and began to wonder if it could be turned into a children’s book. I started mapping it out about five years ago and wrote it as a historical article for a magazine. Then I had been asking mom for details exactly where they went started research and walked the route.”
Lande went to children’s author Sarah Ellis and went through the book with her making the first edits. “She told me what was fine, what to add, and what to leave out.” Heather Nicol, a publisher in Regina helped with the second edit, helping to fit it on 32 pages.
“Everyone who was involved was great and we worked like crazy to get it out by Christmas.”
When asked to describe her writing style, Lande couldn’t put her finger on one particular style and says she writes a whole variety of things. “Because I am a retired teacher I feel I am not aiming to be a writer I just have these stories to tell.”
Though Annie’s Bright Idea is Lande’s first published work, she enjoys writing in different genres.
“I have finished a manuscript aimed at adults about a Icelandic Manitoban pioneer teacher named Miss Sigurbjorg Stefansson. I write true stories of real lives of real people. Normal lives that are in some aspects heroic.”
Something interesting about Annie’s Bright Idea are the photos and newspaper clipping shown that were gathered from the University of Manitoba archives and the Provincial Archives of Manitoba. “What makes this book unique is that it was my mother’s story she told me, and now she is gone. What else makes it unique is that it is unique to Manitoba. It draws a picture of Winnipeg in 1933.”
To get this soon-to-be Christmas classic, you can pick up a copy at McNally Robinson, Chapters, Prairie Sky Bookstore in Wolseley, Toad Hall Toys, and at the gift shop at the Manitoba Historical Society.
Posted by
Laura Kunzelman
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I have sent out Christmas cards for eleven years but that ends now.
What crossed my mind when I decided to not send Christmas cards anymore.
1) Are my family and friends who have been receiving cards from me for eleven years think that this is my attempt at being a Scrooge?
2) I shouldn't worry about it. Maybe I'll just have some egg nog.
3) Mariah Carey might consider stop singing Christmas carols.
4) Or any song for that matter.
5) That's about it.
Now let me tell you why I am not sending cards this year, or any year after this. It isn't because I am lazy even though I am, it isn't that I dread updating my address book which I do, it isn't about the money even though the costs ad up, and it isn't that I have nothing more to say to these people, which may or may not be true.
It is because I have decided I want to decrease my contact with family and friends. I figure not sending Christmas cards is the first step. They will get the hint by 2012.
No, that is a lie. The real reason is because they are very impersonal and I want to save the paper.
When a card is received, it is displayed on a table somewhere in your home, hung up, or if you are fancy, on your mantle. After Christmas they get thrown away unless you are the Martha Stewart type who repurposes them to make next years tags for gifts. These cards end up in landfills unless they are recycled, and lets face it, most people won't recycle them; I have been an accessory to this heinous crime for far too long now and I refuse to any longer.
About 3/4 of the cards I send, I only send because I have been sending them for eleven years. If I care about you, you will see me during the holidays for dinner, coffee, or at a party, I can wish you happy holidays in person and I will phone other relatives and friends and actually speak with them. By sending cards, I have been avoiding contact. If my family and friends are upset about something as insignificant as receiving a card, I don't know why I have been sending them one anyway.
I will buy one card though. It is for my mum because she is a freak about cards. I mean, a complete card monster. In this case I will just mosey down to a store in Osborne Village and find one made out of recycled materials. Mum keeps them so I don't have to worry about them ending up in the Inwood dump.
I have also decided to stop buying wrapping paper because the biggest source of waste at Christmas time is wrapping paper. Thousands of tonnes of wrapping paper get dumped into landfill which is equivalent to approx. 45,000 trees. I will use the paper I have from last year only to get rid of it and that's it.
If for some insane reason I do need to buy wrapping paper, I will opt for a recycled kind, not the shiny kinds. Bags and boxes are always options too.
And if you are reading this, please do not send me any cards or wrap my gifts in shiny paper and consider a greener Christmas.
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Laura Kunzelman
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1. This gown isn't exactly flattering.
2. After not being able to eat for a day my roommate gets beef barley soup? Come on.
3. At least my roommate says funny things when asked to lay down. Things like, "what do I look like, some kind of whore?
4. All I want is a burger and all I get is water.
5. At least I am by a window. Oh wait, that's a view of another building. Super.
2. After not being able to eat for a day my roommate gets beef barley soup? Come on.
3. At least my roommate says funny things when asked to lay down. Things like, "what do I look like, some kind of whore?
4. All I want is a burger and all I get is water.
5. At least I am by a window. Oh wait, that's a view of another building. Super.
Posted by
Laura Kunzelman
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I blog to you mildly outraged at the service of Winnipeg's bus rapid transit. I know, join the club. But hear me out.
I take a 65 at 8:05 to school which usually stops at the doors of Red River College; today the bus stopped two blocks before the school where I was informed that it was the last stop. I wouldn't usually complain about walking the two extra blocks to school, except I have a broken ankle and am on crutches, which makes it extremely difficult to get around anywhere.
As I waited for my walk sign, the bus took off with it's Not In Service sign on. I witnessed the bus roll in front of the school and stop for a red light. The bus stopped right in front of the stop that I would normally get off at which bothered me because I asked the bus driver if he would drive by the school.
When I finally arrived at the school I was a baffled, exhausted, sweaty mess as I talked to Steve Vogelsang who suggested that I blog about this incident and write a letter to the Winnipeg Free Press which I will do.
I will keep you posted.
What crossed my mind as I got off the bus and hobbled to school:
1) Really? That just happened?
2) Is it because I am not pretty enough that he didn't give me a ride the extra two blocks?
3) Is this policy?
4) He definitely didn't give me a ride because I was a hot mess.
5) What will I do next Friday when I take that same bus and he tells me to get off?
6) I wish Emily, John, or Mike were here to fill up my water bottle for me.
I take a 65 at 8:05 to school which usually stops at the doors of Red River College; today the bus stopped two blocks before the school where I was informed that it was the last stop. I wouldn't usually complain about walking the two extra blocks to school, except I have a broken ankle and am on crutches, which makes it extremely difficult to get around anywhere.
As I waited for my walk sign, the bus took off with it's Not In Service sign on. I witnessed the bus roll in front of the school and stop for a red light. The bus stopped right in front of the stop that I would normally get off at which bothered me because I asked the bus driver if he would drive by the school.
When I finally arrived at the school I was a baffled, exhausted, sweaty mess as I talked to Steve Vogelsang who suggested that I blog about this incident and write a letter to the Winnipeg Free Press which I will do.
I will keep you posted.
What crossed my mind as I got off the bus and hobbled to school:
1) Really? That just happened?
2) Is it because I am not pretty enough that he didn't give me a ride the extra two blocks?
3) Is this policy?
4) He definitely didn't give me a ride because I was a hot mess.
5) What will I do next Friday when I take that same bus and he tells me to get off?
6) I wish Emily, John, or Mike were here to fill up my water bottle for me.
