‘To Those Of You Who Missed Your Connecting Flights Out Of O’Hare’ by Amy Hempel

To Those Of You Who Missed Your Connecting Flights Out Of O’Hare by Amy Hempel, 1990

The magic trick:

Strong, individual narrative voice

With some stories the author is nearly invisible. The author is a silent vehicle simply delivering the plot and characters. In stories like “O’Hare,” on the other hand, the author is the story. The narrative voice dominates – aggressive, humorous, authoritative, individual. And that’s quite a trick on Hempel’s part.

The selection:

Now they are angry. The looks and accusations – making hundreds of passengers late!

This is when I told them that my husband was killed in a plane crash, the one in Tenerife.

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