story: “The Excursion”

author: Joy Williams

year: 1972

where: Dining hall on Saadiyat

note: What a fascinating story construction; Williams moves seamlessly in and out of childhood and adulthood of the protagonist.

a line: “Jenny lies a little. She is just a little girl, a child with fears. She fears that birds will fly out of the toilet bowl. Starlings with slick black wings. She fears trees and fishes and the bones in meat. She lies a little but it is not considered serious.’”

theme(s): Childhood, Sexuality, Truth