A Story Every Writer Should Read

I've been reading Joyce Carol Oates's collection of short stories The (Other) You (Harper-Collins, 2021) and was dazzled again by her story, "The Unexpected."  Every writer should read it, especially those who were not born to educated, supportive parents in a cultural metropolis.

The story is written in the second person;  instead of "I" the author uses "you."  The central character is a writer who has been invited to receive an  honourary doctorate of humane letters from a community college near her old home in upstate New York, and to deliver the commencement address. 

Is the story autobiographical? I think  Ms. Oates imagined a writer's worst nightmare and used details from her own home town to make it authentic

In the story, the commencement ceremony is held outdoors on a breezy day. and the writer/narrator is pleased that her address held the students' interest and resulted in a standing ovation.

Then things start to go wrong. When she changes out of the academic robe she realizes that she is half-naked under it and that the wind blew under the gown. No wonder the students could not look away!  

 "Trying not to laugh at you, taking pity on you, no wonder they clapped so boisterously when the excruciating performance came to an end," she tells herself.

The other guests at the commencement luncheon are college officials who had been seated behind her and hadn't noticed her robe being lifted by the wind, so she recovers her composure. After that, the writer goes in a hired car to her old home town where she is to speak at the library.  On the drive she is stirred with memories of her girlhood home. She remembers that, a few years earlier, the town was found to have a toxic water supply because of its proximity to Niagara Falls, NY. 

Once in her home town, she finds everything terribly run-down. She looks at pedestrians, wondering if she should recognize them, as former classmates or neighbours.  When she gets to the town library, she sees a sign, "Cancelled," taped over the poster announcing her visit.

The public library had once "kindled" hope in the author's soul. She remembers books that she loved. It was where she was inspired to become a writer.  She is disappointed by the shabbiness of the town, and sad because she has no family or friends there anymore

When she inquires, she learns that the event was cancelled because of fire regulations.  Still, a few people have turned up to see her anyway, and she can sign books for them in a back room. The librarian, who has a "doughy, oddly familiar face," leads her to her dozen fans.

To these elderly people she says she is honoured to be back in her home town after thirty-six years.  Several audience members have questions, mostly about her daily writing routine, or how to get an agent. 

   Then someone asks if she is sorry that she didn't have children.  The questions get worse.  "Do you think your life was worth it? All those books?"  Also, "Are  you proud of yourself exploiting your past here?"  One woman accuses her of writing lies. The librarian suggests that the author has been too prolific, that Jane Austen wrote only six novels.

In thanking her, the librarian then says in a half-joking manner, that she, unlike the writer, never left town on a fancy scholarship, nor abandoned her family, but got a degree in library science at the state university. "That was good enough for me." Later, informally, she accuses the writer of being treasonous, of questioning the government, of writing "fancy books that no one reads."

Over refreshments, the writer signs copies of her books that her fans have brought in. A man in a wheelchair, says that, at home, he has every  book she has ever written and that he has been "searching for himself" in her fiction.

Red flag, anyone?

I've told you enough of story, which could be titled "A Writer in Hell."  As the situation gets worse and worse, one can't help but remember Dorothy Parker's exclamation:  "What fresh hell is this?"

Brother and sister writers, have you ever experienced anything like this?  Care to share  your experiences? To me, the story rings true.