The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud (1955)

Like all great stories, The Magic Barrel takes its reader on an adventure. The characters become alive and you can almost hear the broken English accent of Salzman. Salzman is a marriage broker who plays an instrumental part in helping Leo Finkle obtain a mate. Finkle is just finishing the last of six years worth of studying at Yeshivah University. Finkle realizes that his new congregation might view him more favorably if he is married. However, the last six years have left him socially stagnant and not understanding the workings of love. Salzman rattles off a list of three eligible women in his portfolio that he is sure will win Finkle over. However, after a disastrous first date with a woman, Finkle banishes Salzman from his house. Before he leaves, Salzman notes “Listen rabbi, if you want love, this I can find for you also. I have such beautiful clients that you will love them the minute your eyes will see them.” Before he leaves, Salzman leaves an envelope of pictures of six women that might interest Finkle. Finkle stews and becomes more and more desperate. He rips open the envelope and studies the faces of the pictured women. After a while none catch his fancy. Then he comes upon a picture of another woman. This woman’s picture is not like the others with color and of a larger size. The photo of the woman is very small and black and white. Finkle questions Salzman about the woman. Salzman refuses to allow Finkle to date this woman because she is Salzman’s daughter. Finkle persuades Salzman to meet her. “Leaving the cafeteria, he was, however, afflicted by a tormenting suspicion that Salzman had planned it all to happen this way” Finkle meets the woman. “Around the corner, Salzman, leaning against a wall, chanted prayers for the dead.”

The Catbird Seat by James Thurber

This is an amusing upbeat story. Mr Martin becomes a pretender of sorts as he breaks out of his shell in order to remove his newly established nemesis from his neatly organized company. Mr Martin is what I would describe as a super conservative who has been at his job a very long time. He is used to his routine which is threatened by Mrs Barrows who is the new assistant to the company principal. “No one would ever see in it the cautious, painstaking hand of Erwin Martin, head of the filing department at, F & S, of whom Mr Fitweiler had once said, ‘Man is fallible but Martin isn’t’.” Mrs Barrows is annoying to say the least if not out to mold the business to her liking. She stops by Martin’s office to harass him. “Are you scraping the bottom of the pickle barrel? . . . Do you really need all these filing cabinets? She demanded suddenly. Mr Martin’s heart jumped. Each of these files, he had said, keeping his voice even, plays an indispensable part in the system of F & S.” Martin goes out and buys cigarettes, (he doesn’t smoke) and following his regular routine of a glass of milk and after dinner going on a walk he sets in motion the downfall of Mrs Barrows. This is truly one of the best short stories.
The term ‘catbird seat’ refers to one “sitting pretty, like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him”

The Peach Stone by Paul Horgan (1943)

This is a remarkably well written story where the narrator is omniscient. There are four different viewpoints of this story. The story is of a trip back to Weed where the little girl was born. In a tragic accident where the two year old dies. “On the seat beside her was the wooden box, sandpapered, but not painted . . . The mother didn’t touch the box except when the car lurched or the tires danced over corrugated places in the gravel highway . . . In the box was coffined the body of their dead child, a two year old girl. They were on their way to Weed to bury it there.” Although this is a very sad story one can gain a lot from it.

Nothing Ever Breaks Except the Heart by Kay Boyle (1942)

This is a love story not of Miss Del Monte who seems to be enamored with the airline deskman Mr McCloskey, but of Mr McCloskey and flying. He has mental problems with flying now and so he can only be behind a desk. He takes Miss Del Monte out on the water to find his wrecked airplane. “She’s out there, tethered on the water, Mr McCloskey said. The plane, he said, a little impatiently, because Miss Del Monde didn’t seem to be able to understand English any more.”

The Chrysanthemums by John Steinbeck

Like all flowers, the chrysanthemums in this story symbolize sex organs. Elisa Allen works in her flower garden to create beautiful flowers. This story has gender tones to it as the woman feels like she could do anything that a man could do. A travelling salesman stops to offer his services to sharpen tools or fix pots. During the conversation that ensues, the travelling salesman tells her of a woman who has a beautiful flower garden but no mums. This gives Elisa a start who gladly offers to send some roots in damp sand along with him. Elisa then instructs the man how they are to be taken care of. After repairing some old pots he goes on his way. Henry, Elisa’s husband comes home to get ready so they can go out. There is a verbal give and take as she challenges his choice of words. This story is just too rich in symbolism and information to do it justice in this brief analysis.

Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Charlie has returned to Paris to try to gain custody back of his daughter Honoria. It has been 10 years since he has seen his daughter. His past still haunts him where he would be a brutal drunkard. It was his fault why his wife, Helen, died – locking her out of the house on a cold winter night. Pneumonia set in quickly thereafter and then she was gone. Her sister, Marion, and her husband, Lincoln, have been caring for Honoria for all this time. Feelings are still raw as Charlie pitches his proposal to Marion that he is a changed man and ready to take his daughter back. He allows himself only one drink per day – no more. While visiting with Marion, two old friends invite Charlie out for drinks. He sends them away, but the visit unnerves Marion who still blames Charlie for the death of her sister. Charlie leaves empty handed. Martha Foley states “All fiction has a springboard of reality; those who know the author’s tragic life know how true this story is.”

The Little Wife by William March

The Little Wife is the story of a stricken husband unable to face reality. Joe Hinckley is on a train ride back to his home in a distant city. Being a traveling salesman keeps him from his family for stretches at a time. He received a telegram stating that his wife was so sick that she probably wouldn’t make it through night: “J.G. Hinckley, American Hotel, Montgomery, Ala. Come home at once. Doctor says Bessie not expected live through day. Will wire again if necessary. It was a boy. Mother.” Then the porter comes and delivers another telegram. “It must be from Mrs. Thompkins, all right, he thought, she said she would wire again if –“ He kept looking at the telegram and not opening it. The conductor passed by him and asked if he was alright. “Everything’s all right. . . I’m going home to see the little wife and everything’s all right.” He laughed happily. Joe begins to want to talk about Bessie to everyone on the unbearably long train ride. Anyone he talks to is willing to listen until he continues his diatribe for hours. He goes to the back of the train and tears up the telegram without reading it and watches it flutter away in the wind. He wants to keep her alive as long as he can. He arrives in Mobile. “On the other side of the iron fence Joe saw Mrs. Thompkins. She was dressed in black and she wore a black veil.”

The Faithful Wife by Morley Callaghan

George has worked at a restaurant for several years. Everyday would draw the daily crowd as well as others due to their proximity to the train station. George got to know a lot of people but one woman. Every day at noon she would pass the restaurant without even a glance inside. This bothered George and he found himself thinking of her often. The last night he worked at the restaurant he went for a walk. While he was out the mysterious woman calls. He calls her back and finds out that she wants to see him that night. He hesitantly goes to her house. They kissed and held each other. The woman tells him that her roommate will be back soon and he needs to go. George knows that she is married due to the ring mark on her finger. She admits that she is married but her husband is in a sanitarium from his injuries during the war. By this time George has fallen in love with her. She insists he goes. “As he went out the door and down the walk to the street he remembered that he hadn’t asked her how she had found out his name . . . All he could think of was that he ought to go back to the restaurant and ask Steve for his job again. Steve was fond of him. But he knew he could not spoil it for her. ‘She had it all figured out,’ he muttered, turning up his coat collar.”

The Lost Phoebe by Theodore Dreiser

Old Henry Reifsneider and his wife Phoebe Ann lived in the country. Years pass and Phoebe waits on her husband for every little thing. They loved each other and didn't know what they would do without each other, specifically Henry. Then Phoebe gets sick and eventually dies. Henry's sanity goes into a tailspin as he still believes that she is alive. First he goes to a friend's house where he thinks Phoebe is. Each day his search leads him farther and farther away. The ending is bitter sweet...