“Child of God,” Geoff Wyss
1) I generally shy away from stories that take place inside a teacher’s lounge AND/OR high school English classroom, both of which Wyss uses in a oh-my-god-I’m-going-to-SCREAM way 2) I’m tired of stories about older men being shamelessly aroused by much younger women, 3) Wyss’ writing is amazing, but way TOO MUCH given the subject matter. He’s trying too hard, and it’s distracting. Other ways of saying #3: He takes himself too seriously; he thinks way too hard about the predicament at hand; his prose is so frilly and weighty it seems like he’s trying to cram every good adjective/description/simile/metaphor/image/etc. into this one story.
All that said, I was pulled into this story like a magnet to a ‘fridge, so maybe I should take my own advice and stop over-thinking this.
-M
