Donald Barthelme

by Donald Barthelme

I Bought a Little City. The New Yorker, November 11, 1974, pp. 42–44. SS.

  The Agreement. The New Yorker, October 14, 1974, pp. 44–45.

  The Sergeant. Fiction 3 (2–3): 24–25. SS.

  What to Do Next. The New Yorker, March 24, 1973, pp. 35–37.

  The Captured Woman. The New Yorker, June 28, 1976, pp. 22–25. SS.

  And Then. Harper’s, December 1973, pp. 87–89.

  Porcupines at the University. The New Yorker, April 25, 1970, pp. 32–33. FS.

  The Educational Experience. Harper’s, June 1973, pp. 62–65. FS.

  The Discovery. The New Yorker, August 20, 1973, pp. 26–27.

  Rebecca. The New Yorker, February 24, 1975, pp. 44–45. SS.

  The Reference. Playboy, April 1974, pp. 163, 186–87.

  The New Member. The New Yorker, July 15, 1974, pp. 28–30.

  You Are as Brave as Vincent Van Gogh. The New Yorker, March 18, 1974, p. 34.

  At the End of the Mechanical Age. The Atlantic, June 1973, pp. 52–55. SS.

  Great Days (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979)

  The Crisis. The New Yorker, October 24, 1977, pp. 42–43. SS.

  The Apology. The New Yorker, February 20, 1978, pp. 35–37.

  The New Music. The New Yorker, June 19, 1978, pp. 29–30, and as “Momma,” The New Yorker, October 2, 1978, pp. 32–33.

  Cortés and Montezuma. The New Yorker, August 22, 1977, pp. 25–26. SS.

  The King of Jazz. The New Yorker, February 7, 1975, pp. 31–32. SS.

  The Question Party. The New Yorker, January 17, 1977, pp. 32–34.

  Belief. University of Houston Forum 13 (Winter 1976): 47–49.

  Tales of the Swedish Army. The New Yorker, December 26, 1977, pp. 23–24.

  The Abduction from the Seraglio. The New Yorker, January 30, 1978, pp. 30–31. SS.

  The Death of Edward Lear. The New Yorker, January 2, 1971, p. 21. SS.

  Concerning the Bodyguard. The New Yorker, October 16, 1978, pp. 36–37. FS.

  The Zombies. The New Yorker, April 25, 1977, p. 35. SS.

  Morning. The New Yorker, May 1, 1978, pp. 36–37. SS.

  On the Steps of the Conservatory. The New Yorker, February 21, 1977, pp. 33–36. SS.

  The Leap. The New Yorker, July 31, 1978, pp. 27–29. SS.

  Great Days. Partisan Review 4.3 (1977): 501–11. FS.

  From Sixty Stories (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1981)

  Eugénie Grandet. The New Yorker, August 17, 1968, pp. 24–25.

  Nothing: A Preliminary Account. The New Yorker, December 31, 1973, pp. 26–27.

  A Manual for Sons. As “Manual for Sons,” The New Yorker, May 12, 1975, pp. 40–50.

  Aria. The New Yorker, March 12, 1979, p. 37.

  The Emerald. Esquire, November 1979, pp. 92–105.

  How I Write My Songs. As “How I Write My Songs, by Bill B. White,” The New Yorker, November 27, 1978, pp. 36–37.

  The Farewell. As “The Farewell Party,” Fiction 6.2 (1980): 12–16.

  The Emperor. The New Yorker, January 26, 1981, p. 31.

  Thailand. The New Yorker, December 29, 1980, pp. 33–35.

  Heroes. The New Yorker, May 5, 1980, pp. 36–37.

  Bishop. The New Yorker, August 4, 1980, pp. 27–28.

  Grandmother’s House. As “Grandmother,” The New Yorker, September 3, 1979, pp. 26–28.

  Overnight to Many Distant Cities (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1983)

  They called for more structure . . .

  Visitors. The New Yorker, December 14, 1981, pp. 38–41.

  Financially, the paper . . . As “Pepperoni,” The New Yorker, December 1, 1980, p. 43.

  Affection. The New Yorker, November 7, 1983, pp. 45–47.

  I put a name in an envelope . . . Joseph Cornell Exhibition Catalogue (New York: Leo Castelli Gallery, 1976); Ontario Review 5 (Fall–Winter 1976): 50.

  Lightning. The New Yorker, May 3, 1982, pp. 42–45.

  That guy in the back room . . .

  Captain Blood. The New Yorker, January 1, 1979, pp. 26–27.

  A woman seated on a plain wooden chair . . . Parts earlier published in “Presents,” Penthouse, December 1977, 106–10.

  Conversations with Goethe. The New Yorker, October 20, 1980, p. 49.

  Well we all had our Willie & Wade records . . . Harper’s, June 1979.

  Henrietta and Alexandra. As “Alexandria and Henrietta,” North American Review 12 (1971): 82–87.

  Speaking of the human body . . .

  The Sea of Hesitation. As “Over the Sea of Hesitation,” The New Yorker, November 11, 1972, pp. 40–43.

  When he came . . .

  Terminus.

  The first thing the baby did wrong . . .

  The Mothball Fleet. The New Yorker, September 11, 1971, pp. 34–35.

  Now that I am older . . .

  Wrack. The New Yorker, October 21, 1972, pp. 36–37.

  On our street . . . As “Sakrete,” The New Yorker, September 26, 1983, pp. 34–35.

  The Palace at Four A.M. The New Yorker, October 17, 1983, pp. 46–49.

  I am, at the moment . . . Includes material from unpublished story “Among the Beanwoods,” published posthumously in Kim Herzinger (ed.), Flying to America: 45 More Stories (Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2007).

  Overnight to Many Distant Cities. The New Yorker, January 1, 1979, pp. 26–27.

  From Forty Stories (1987)

  Chablis. The New Yorker, December 12, 1983, p. 49.

  On the Deck. The New Yorker, January 12, 1987, p. 37.

  Opening. The New Yorker, October 22, 1984, p. 41.

  Sindbad. The New Yorker, August 27, 1984, pp. 30–32.

  Rif.

  Jaws. The New Yorker, August 17, 1987, pp. 20–21.

  Bluebeard. The New Yorker, June 16, 1986, p. 33.

  Construction. The New Yorker, April 29, 1985, pp. 34–36.

  Letters to the Editore. The New Yorker, February 25, 1972, pp. 34–35.

  January. The New Yorker, April 6, 1987, pp. 40–41.

  Uncollected Stories. The texts are taken from Kim Herzinger (ed.), Flying to America: 45 More Stories (Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2007).

  Edwards, Amelia. The New Yorker, September 9, 1972, pp. 34–36.

  A Man. The New Yorker, December 30, 1972, pp. 26–27.

  Basil from Her Garden. The New Yorker, October 21, 1985, pp. 36–37.

  Tickets. The New Yorker, March 6, 1989.

  This volume presents the texts of the original printings chosen for inclusion here, but it does not attempt to reproduce nontextual features of their typographic design. The texts are presented without change, except for the correction of typographical errors. Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are often expressive features and are not altered, even when inconsistent or irregular. The following is a list of typographical errors corrected, cited by page and line number: 40.3, acohol,; 85.33, it it; 86.15, yeoman; 109.12, this; 148.1, rysstafel; 184.10, owning; 217.18, doing.”; 420.10, “Rupert.”; 427.26, he if uses; 591.36, her.; 666.15, augensheinlich; 707.27, wedge; 832.38, Wilkins; 899.12–13, reconcilation; 914.35, it for; 923.29, Bal.

  Notes

  In the notes below, the reference numbers denote page and line of the hardcover edition (the line count includes headings but not blank lines). No note is made for material that is sufficiently explained in context, nor are there notes for material included in standard desk-reference works such as Webster’s Eleventh Collegiate, Biographical, and Geographical dictionaries or comparable internet resources such as Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. Foreign words and phrases are translated only if not translated in the text or if words are not evident English cognates. Quotations from Shakespeare are keyed to The Riverside Shakespea
re, edited by G. Blakemore Evans (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974). Quotations from the Bible are keyed to the King James Version. For further biographical information than is contained in the Chronology and Introduction, see Tracy Daugherty, Hiding Man: A Biography of Donald Barthelme (New York: St. Martin’s, 2009).

  COME BACK, DR. CALIGARI

  1.1 DR. CALIGARI] The hypnotist villain of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), German film directed by Robert Wiene (1873–1938) with Werner Krauss (1884–1959) in the starring role.

  3.13 Quemoy and Matsu] In September 1954 the People’s Republic of China Communists began shelling Quemoy and Matsu, islands in the Formosa (Taiwan) Strait occupied by the Chinese Nationalists, and in January 1955 attacked other Nationalist-held islands along the coast. After Congress passed a resolution authorizing the President to defend Quemoy and Matsu, the Eisenhower administration warned in March that an attack on the islands could result in the use of tactical nuclear weapons by the United States. The Communists halted their shelling of the islands on May 1, 1955, but resumed it on August 23, 1958. Eisenhower responded by sending naval forces to the region and declaring in a televised address on September 11 that the United States would resist aggression in the Formosa Strait. The Chinese halted their bombardment on October 6, 1958, ending the crisis.

  3.16 Famous Writers School] Correspondence course cofounded in 1961 by the Random House publisher Bennett Cerf (1898–1971), the prolific magazine writer John D. Ratcliff (1903–1973), and the illustrator Alfred Dorne (1906–1965), modeled on the Famous Artists School cofounded by Dorne. Later the Writers School was the subject of an investigative report into its dubious practices by the English writer Jessica Mitford (1917–1996) in The Atlantic, July 1970.

  3.21 Herman Kahn] American mathematician and military strategist (1922–1983), founder of the conservative Hudson Institute, author of On Thermonuclear War (1960) and Thinking About the Unthinkable (1962).

  5.25 Joe Weider] Canadian-born bodybuilder, magazine publisher, and fitness and nutrition entrepreneur (1919–2013).

  5.36 Pamela Hansford Johnson] English novelist (1912−1981), author of twenty-seven novels, including This Bed Thy Centre (1935) and The Unspeakable Skipton (1959).

  6.2 Graf Zeppelin] German airship that provided commercial passenger service from 1928 to 1937.

  6.3–4 Mandrake the Magician] Syndicated comic strip, created by Lee Falk (1911−1999), that began its long run in 1934.

  6.8 Lakehurst] The German passenger airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey on May 6, 1937.

  7.28–29 “It is closing time in the gardens of the West Cyril Connolly.”] A remark made by Cyril Connolly (1903–1974) in 1949 in Horizon, the magazine he cofounded and edited: “It is closing time in the gardens of the West and from now on an artist will be judged only by the resonance of his solitude or the quality of his despair.”

  7.32–33 “Before the flowers of friendship faded friendship faded Gertrude Stein.”] Before the Flowers of Friendship Faded Friendship Faded (1931), work by the American writer Gertrude Stein (1874–1946).

  8.9 Chiang’s] Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975).

  8.14 Egmont] Font developed by the Dutch designer and artist S. H. de Roos (1877−1962).

  9.2–3 “Remarks are not literature,”] An aphorism of Gertrude Stein, first recorded in her book The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933).

  9.14–15 Henry James writes fiction . . . painful duty Oscar Wilde] Cf. “The Decay of Lying” (1889), essay by the Anglo-Irish writer Oscar Wilde (1854–1900).

  9.20 the Andrew Sisters] Popular swing-era vocal trio.

  9.36 Norman Brokenshire] Canadian-born American radio and television announcer (1898–1965) known as “Sir Silken Speech.”

  10.11 Captain Mid-night] Titular hero of a serialized radio program (1938–49) that was the basis for films and television programs as well as a comic strip.

  10.30 Onward Christian] Cf. “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” hymn with words (1864) by Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924) and music (1871) by Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900).

  11.1–2 “An army . . . truth”] From “For Christ the King” (1932), Catholic youth anthem written by Fr. Daniel A. Lord (1888–1955).

  11.13 Tempelhof] West Berlin’s airport during the Cold War.

  14.34 Parsifal] Opera (1882) by the German composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883).

  14.38–15.7 Wellfleet . . . Edmund Wilson . . . Bunny] For much of his life the American literary critic Edmund Wilson (1895–1972), nicknamed “Bunny,” lived in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod.

  15.37 Coriolanus.] Eponymous protagonist of a tragedy by Shakespeare, based on the fifth-century B.C.E. Roman general Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.

  16.4 The Rise and Fall] The best-selling popular history The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer (1904–1993).

  16.12 Pinetop Smith] Blues pianist (1904–1929) whose most famous composition is “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie” (1928).

  16.16 Altman’s.] Upscale New York department store, 1865–1989.

  18.31 Sons and Daughters of I Will Arise] Fictional Birmingham, Alabama, social organization of African Americans invented by the writer and playwright Octavus Roy Cohen (1891–1959).

  22.17 Bride of Frankenstein] Film (1935) directed by James Whale (1889−1957). The other film titles mentioned in this story are those of real B-movies.

  28.25 Hyacinth Girl.] See lines 35–36 of The Waste Land (1922) by the American poet T. S. Eliot (1888−1965): “You gave me hyacinths first a year ago; / They called me the hyacinth girl.”

  28.26–27 It is a portrait . . . development.] From the introduction to A Hero of Our Time (1840–41), novel by the Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841).

  31.32 Bergson] The French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859–1941) whose works include Creative Evolution (1907).

  32.7 Matson Line] Passenger shipping line for a company that also transported freight.

  33.25 the fall of Ethiopia] Italy declared Ethiopia an Italian province in May 1936 upon occupying Addis Ababa, having forced the country’s emperor Haile Selassie (1892–1975) into exile.

  34.2–3 Joel S. Goldsmith’s books on the oneness of life] The American lecturer and author Joel S. Goldsmith (1892−1964) was the founder of the nonsectarian spiritual movement The Infinite Way, also the title of the first of his more than fifty books.

  34.13 Cow on the Roof or something like that] Le Bœuf sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof), Parisian cabaret renowned as a haunt of modernist artists and other cultural figures during the interwar years.

  34.33 Rambler] Affordable automobile manufactured in the postwar period by the American Motors Corporation.

  36.2–3 For I’m the Boy . . . You] A line from “Remember Me?”, song with words by Al Dubin (1891–1945), music by Harry Warren (1893–1981), from the musical comedy Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937).

  37.25 Mallarmé] French poet and critic Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898), whose works include the experimental poem Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hazard (A Throw of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance, pub. 1914).

  42.26 Tuesday Weld] Film and television actor (b. 1943), a child and teen star in the 1950s and 1960s with a tempestuous personal life.

  47.24 Conrad Veidt] German actor (1893–1943) whose many film roles included The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (see note 1.1) and Casablanca (1942).

  48.1–2 DE REZKE] De Reszke cigarettes, manufactured by the London-based firm J. Millhoff & Co. Branded as “the aristocrat of cigarettes,” they were named after the Polish opera singer Jean de Reszke (1850–1925).

  52.10–11 Ideal Marriage by Th. H Van De Velde, M.
D.] Ideal Marriage: Its Physiology and Technique (1928), title of English translation of the sex manual Het volkomen huwelijk (1926) by the Dutch gynecologist Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde (1873–1937).

  52.30 Carmen Lambrosa] A fictional actor.

  55.35–36 Meyer Davis] American bandleader and musical entrepreneur (1893–1976) who presided over a group of orchestras catering to high-society events.

  59.9–10 Lester Lannin] Lester Lanin (1907–2004), American bandleader whose orchestras, like Meyer Davis’s, specialized in high-society events.

  59.30 Leon Jaroff] Editor and science writer (1927–2012) for Time magazine.

  61.38 Emile Myerson] “Man does metaphysics just as he breathes, involuntarily and, above all, usually without realizing it.” From De l’explication dans les sciences (On Explanation in the Sciences, 1921), by the Polish-born French philosopher of science Émile Meyerson (1859–1933).

  62.2–3 Abbey Lincoln . . . La Plante] The jazz singer and songwriter Abbey Lincoln (1930–2010) and the actor Laura La Plante (1904–1996), whose roles were mostly in the silent film era.

  64.8 Sounds of Sebring] Series of LP records, 1956–62, 1964, featuring recordings taken during the annual twelve-hour auto race held in Sebring, Florida, accompanied by commentary about the race.

  69.10 “Debbie’s Date Insults Liz!”] Debbie Reynolds (1932–2016) and Elizabeth Taylor (1932–2011) were involved in a highly publicized and sensationalized feud after it became known that Taylor was having an affair with Reynolds’s first husband Eddie Fisher (1928–2010), who married Taylor after a divorce from Reynolds in 1959.

  75.1 Marie, Marie, Hold on Tight] From T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, lines 15–16.

  75.12 COGITO ERGO] Latin: I think, therefore, from Descartes’s dictum “I think, therefore I am.”

  77.29–30 “What Is To Be Done?” . . . famous revolutionary catchword] Title of Vladimir Lenin’s 1902 political pamphlet.

  81.2 BUCK] Buck Rogers, space adventurer who first appeared in Amazing Stories in 1928 and the comic strip adapted from it in 1929, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and later in radio, movies, and television.