Staying on Their Toes
For nineteenth-century ballerinas, the precariousness of dancing en pointe was nothing compared to the precariousness of their financial situation.
We are inclined to endow our friends with the stability of type...
"We could prefer not to have known at all our neighbor..."
Still Life
At once profitable and precarious, the moonshiner trade attracted only the most spirited individuals.
My wife left ... on the arm of a svelte yogurt distributor
"The scale over there across the street is truly an ingenious device...."
Love Bites
The story of the dentist McTeague's wooing of his patient, Trina, is one readers can sink their teeth into.
Lest on sorrow we should sup...
"Care's a canker that benumbs...."
Seeing and Nothingness
Some people watch what they eat. The narrator of one obscure French novel would rather watch than eat.
Kitchen Wisdom
In precapitalist times wealth was considered neither a rational consequence of thrift and smart investment nor evidence of some inborn excellence. Rather, it was regarded as status enjoyed at the sufferance of providence and was therefore subject to revocation. A sudden turn of Fortune's wheel and Dives became Lazarus; Lazarus, Dives. Giving charity appeared, then,
Get Thee to a University
As the value of higher education starts breaking bad, the unprecedented number of degree-holding women reach a milestone and assume a millstone.
For him I was a phenomenon....
"After a slow start, things went off like clockwork...."
Butterfly Effect
Men were like butterflies to Margaret Fountaine: They were apt to flit away without warning or leave-taking....
All I needed was a sandwich to make me believe in miracles ...
“You know about innards? The trick they play on tramps in the country?..."
Reindeer Game
In the harsh arctic region Laplanders inhabit, joy, like summer, is fleeting.
Night Moves
There was a time when late-night wakefulness wasn't something to be dreaded but welcomed. Centuries ago, sleepers woke with pleasure, even eagerness. Between "first" and "second" sleep, so called, men, women and children stirred to enjoy activities domestic and romantic, spiritual and intellectual.
As if she lived a mad, gay life ...
“What a typical picture for anyone from out of New York...."