How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)

The short story by Lorrie Moore has a pretty cool style about it. The story moves in reverse chronological order, briefly explaining moments from different years in the life of the main character, Virginia. Beginning in 1982 when she is around 43 and going back to her birth in 1939, the story covers her relationship with her parents, particularly her mother, as well as her thought processes based around the different political and social changes in her lifetime. Also very important in the story is her feelings towards babies at different times in her life as well as the several abortions she has.

The style in which the story is told has interesting effects on how I felt toward it. Similar to last weeks "Job History," the brief moments in this story shed light not on the entire arc of the narrative, but rather on the small, important moments that show who the person is and how she changes throughout time. Also, by going in reverse, there is more emphasis on where the story came from than where the story is going. While it is not exactly orthodox, the style of this story really appealed to me, and I thought it was good.