Month: April 2026

  • Short Story Review: “A Private View” by Douglas Stuart

    (The short story “A Private View” by Douglas Stuart appeared in the April 20th, 2026 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Illustration by Karolis Strautniekas

    Douglas Stuart’s “A Private View” reminds me of the short stories that The New Yorker used to publish back in the 50’s and 60’s. (This is meant as a compliment, FYI…) Those stories of old were all set in fabulously wonderful Manhattan, the characters had fascinating jobs in the arts, the stories took place in some social event or interaction, and everybody had lots of baggage. There was a strange comfortability in those old short stories, yet I would never call them predictable, as they seemed to project a New Yorker contemporary literary ideal. In this light, reading “A Private View” was the equivalent of reading on a rainy day in a warm sweater drinking a cup of coffee.

    This was a story that did lull me in. Perhaps I should admit that I am a sucker for stories about mothers and sons. The more troubled the better, and for that reason, I wasn’t paying strict attention to the story, and just let it easily roll and unfold before me. Also, with characters that were from Texas, it was almost too much up my alley.

    With all of that, I still have to say that I appreciated that this was a story that wasn’t afraid to take it’s time, flesh out the characters, and sprinkle the little clues on the edges of the frame. I also enjoyed Stuart’s use of the art show and the sculptures of the stations of the cross, and his descriptions of the contemporary figures that were worked in. It played wonderful with the theme of the story, and also provided a very fertile Gen-X visual vocabulary of childhood characters that still seem to flourish in the imaginations of people of a certain age.

    But what struck me as the most honest and true aspect of the story was the relationship between mother and son, and the satellite of the sister as well. It was palatable how uncomfortable all these relationships were with each other, and also understandable why each of the siblings made the choices that they did. One couldn’t stand to be disappointed anymore, and the other couldn’t let go. Perhaps the son was closer in personality to his mother, or perhaps the sister made her decision to let go, and the son had to hold on.

    I am keeping this review vague as I don’t want to give away anything in this story, but clearly I feel you should read it. Especially read it as Stuart does an excellent job with the climax, and the dénouement. Though heartbreaking, I found protagonist decision at the end of the story melancholy in its acknowledgement of the truth. A truth was needed, for this hero had been on this journey for some time, and it was time for him to move on.

  • Earworm Wednesday: That Other Cowbell Song

    It’s the cowbell. As silly as it is to say that, it’s that cowbell at the beginning. The guitar riff is good too, but the cowbell and those drums.

  • Gawd, It’s Hot

    Today is the first day of Summer on NYC. Did you know that?

    Yeah, it’s Summer.

    Lucky for me and my little family, we got our A/C’s cleaned and in the windows last weekend, and we were prepared for this event. Not to brag, but I’m going to brag. It’s nice a relatively cool in my apartment.

    In other news; I sure am sweating a lot when I go outside.

  • Just Showing Up

    Sometimes that’s all you can do; Just show up. Not feeling it, don’t have the energy, or running on empty? Yup, all of those apply today. Probably because I stayed up too late last night, but that’s neither here nor there…

    I’m dragging today, but I got my family obligations completed. There is a chance I might go and kick a soccer ball with the kid when she gets home from school, and I do believe that will push me over the edge and I will fall into a deep sleep or coma as soon as we get home.

    But I’m pushing through and showing up, and getting some writing done today. Posting a blog, even this crappy half assed blog, still counts as checking off the box.

    Hooray for doing the bare minimum!!!

  • ODDS and ENDS (I’m in a Hurry Edition): North Bergen, Painting, and Taxes

    ODDS and ENDS (I’m in a Hurry Edition): North Bergen, Painting, and Taxes

    (I’m going to make time stop…)

    Young man holding air conditioner blocked by robots denying installation
    (Here’s the weekly AI created image.)

    First of all, the China bots seem to have gone away, but they have been replaced by what I can only assure is another data scrubber out of North Bergen, New Jersey. I say this because someone/something in that town is hitting up my blog close to twenty times a day is not more. Now, I do think my writing is amazing, and I should have millions of followers, but in the real world of reality, we all know both of those things aren’t true, and as such there is no reason for one person in North Bergen to go about and read this blog that many times a day for the past month. Now, if you happen to be a real person, then by all means, please leave a comment, and let me know what you find so interesting. If this is an AI bot scrubbing for information, please, there are other, better sites out there, and your mother was a Hoover because she blows!

    Part of the reason I’m in a hurry today is that I gotta get a jump on all of my errands, because I need to start painting window sills and get air conditioners in the windows. Come the start of next we, NYC is about to have three f not four days of Summer (Temps in the 80’s) and we’re going to need those a/c’s.

    And the wife is doing our taxes this weekend, which also means that she’s going to be in a bad mood. Not because our taxes are particularly difficult. No, it’s more a matter of no one wants to do this chore. That’s it.