{"id":28230,"date":"2020-10-26T16:23:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T20:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/?p=28230"},"modified":"2020-10-26T16:23:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T20:23:09","slug":"curtis-sittenfeld-a-for-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mookseandgripes.com\/reviews\/2020\/10\/26\/curtis-sittenfeld-a-for-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Curtis Sittenfeld: “A for Alone”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“A for Alone”<\/strong><\/span>
\nby Curtis Sittenfeld<\/span>
\nfrom the November 2, 2020 issue of\u00a0The New Yorker<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"[fusion_dropcap boxed=”no” boxed_radius=”” class=”” id=”” color=”#003366″ text_color=””]I[\/fusion_dropcap] feel the same trepidation venturing into a new Curtis Sittenfeld story as I felt a few weeks ago when Lorrie Moore’s “Face Time”<\/a> went up: I do not know if I can do topical fiction right now (for the record, commenters on Moore’s story assured potential readers that it was worthwhile, and not just because it addressed dying on the other side of Face Time). Sittenfeld is the athor of American Wife<\/em> and Rodham<\/em>, two alternate takes on prior First Ladies; learning\u00a0from the interview with Willing Davidson<\/a>\u00a0that “A for Alone” features Mike Pence . . . I just don’t know if I can do that right now.<\/p>\n

Sittenfeld’s story is set in 2017, so it might have enough separation from the present moment. Irene, the central character, has an art installation inspired by Pence’s rule that a married man not eat alone with another woman.<\/p>\n

For her art, Irene has gone out to eat with many married men, all for art. At lunch, she asks them questions. Here is how the story begins:<\/p>\n

Irene\u2019s medium, the one in which she has exhibited at galleries, is textiles, but for \u201cInterrogating Graham\/Pence\u201d she decides to use Polaroid photos and off-white Tintoretto paper. Even though the questions will be the same for all the men, she handwrites them in black ink, because the contrast of her consistent handwriting with the men\u2019s varied handwriting will create a dialogue in which she is established as the interrogator.\u00a0Before her lunch with Eddie Walsh, she writes:<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

Date<\/span><\/p>\n

Name<\/span><\/p>\n

Age<\/span><\/p>\n

Profession<\/span><\/p>\n

When, prior to lunch today, did you last spend time alone with a woman who is not your wife?<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you aware of the Modesto Manifesto, also known as the Billy Graham Rule, also known as the Mike Pence Rule?<\/span><\/p>\n

If so, what is your opinion of this rule?<\/span><\/p>\n

When I invited you to lunch, what was your reaction?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

She and Eddie are meeting at a Thai restaurant downtown. Unless it feels organically relevant, she plans to make no mention of the project until after the arrival of the check, which she will pay.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’d be interested in your take, since I really don’t think I’ll be reading this one soon. Perhaps you can let me know if I should change my mind on that. I hope we are all about to have a nice final week of October. Please feel free to comment below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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