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Sunday, September 5th, 2004
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8:25a - The Orange
An orange is an orange is an orange, except when it's not. Except when it's the ruler of the world.
Such is the case in the very short and very sweet story, "The Orange" by Benjamin Rosenbaum. First printed, in Quarterly West, the small press literary magazine published at the University of Utah, and later, reprinted in the very sharp and very fancy, Harper's Magazine, this story presents the reader with a world both pastorial and technological. Through a slip of fate, a "temporary abdicaton of Heavenly Providence," an orange becomes a miraculous and wise ruler of humanity.
But life is short and it is shorter for produce. A season is all it has and being from nature, from the single branch of a Floridan tree, the orange recognizes this.
This story is about gifts; the gift of delight and wonder, the gift of wisdom and appreciation, the gift of simple times and veritable trust. Honesty and honor. High expectations and tender sympathies. Faith. And hope.
Written and posted by Pam McNew
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11:40a - The Leading Man
Reviewing a story by Aimee Bender is not an easy task. In fact, it's a taunting task. Because what do you point to when there is so much to point at? I suppose I should talk about story, and this particular story, "The Leading Man" was published by one of the leading literary magazines about, The Paris Review.
It's a story of a young boy who grows into an older man and along the way, he seeks his identity within himself, within his family and within his community. It is a slow process, but one furthered by Aimee Bender's use of the fantastic in the real world. The boy is born with fingers shaped like keys, his father fights in a foreign, unannounced war, and, later, the boy finds employment in a factory where he breaks glass for a living.
The wonderment of this story about a latch-key kid, isolated in more ways than one, is the way the pieces of the story, the pieces of the protagonist's life fit together, not unlike the way the right key fits into the right lock and opens the way with a solid click, the way child holds the keys and becomes a leading man of his own right.
One can hardly ask any more than that in a story and when it happens, applaud it and place on a site where others can discover it as well.
Written and posted by Pam McNew
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