Sourland By Joyce Carol Oates

The second story i read in Sourland, was "Bonobo Momma". This short story was about a girl about the age of 14 who had terrible back problems. Her spine was curved in the shape of a "z" and when she walked it was very lopsided. Her estranged mother who was barely ever around, came to visit her. The girl had just recovered from the last in a chain of back surgeries to try to fix her spine alignment. She was in a lot of pain and her mother didn't seem very interested in how she was doing. Her mother was stubborn and loud, so when they had been waiting too long at a restaurant, she called them out and left. Her daughter was in a lot of pain and by the end of the story her mother called her a cab to take her home and told her she would see her soon.

I can somehow relate to this because my mom works very hard and long hours. I feel bad for the daughter because she just had pain full surgeries and her Mom was shipping her off back home. It must be hard to have a parental unit that is very infatuated with themselves that they hardly spend time with you. Joyce Carol Oates did a very nice job of writing this short story because although you knew the daughters feelings, the author did not tell you too much. The ending was not to ambiguous which i liked. I recommend this short story because it is an interesting read.