Sublime

John Barth’s long story “Lost in the Funhouse,”

He smelled of chard and metal,

It is problematic to father alone. By this I do not mean without a wife. That can actually be simpler, finer. A single authority, a clear chain of command. None of the agonies of partnered power, although I’m confident that Claire will soon join me here at the hut. Instead I mean it is difficult to father without an actual child. How exactly does o

feel like part of the story.

He wore smart shoes crusted with mud. His shirt carried a small tear along the seam. “But you still ask,” Patch said.

He said: “Honey, don’t ever try to figure out what’s going on between two people.” After she moved out of his house, he resumed life as a married man, and on the face of it it didn’t seem right that they were still in love. “But what will happen with Colman?” April asked. “How will it end?” “End?” she said. “What would end it?” For a while (five ye

The story that isn’t Mark Nechtr’s by Mark Nechtr concerns a young competitive archer, named Dave, and his live-in lover, named L____. Dave, who is not nearly so healthy as Mark, believes that the only things that give his life meaning and direction are his competitive archery and his lover, L____, who is a great deal more attractive and sympatheti

Mon Uncle.

the peril his attitude was leading him toward,