Lawns by Mona Simpson, 1984
The magic trick:
A plot reveal so stunning it feels like surrealism
We’re doing a week of college campus stories here as schools return to session.
I’d say it’ll be fun, but some of the selections – including today’s from Mona Simpson – are quite bleak. But perhaps the fun lies in simply enjoying great literature.
“Lawns” qualifies as great.
It starts normally enough. An undergrad at Cal-Berkeley works Saturday mornings sorting mail in her dorm. She’s maybe a little unethical with how she approaches her job.
But so far, so good. We’ve got a story about a quirky girl on a college campus, figuring things out.
Familiar enough territory.
The story changes, though. It goes from quirky to murky to downright twisted.
The thing is, that transition is so twisted it feels like a piece of magical realism has been dropped into the story. This development shifts our understanding of this story – this protagonist and her life – so far into the unfamiliar that it feels like surrealism suddenly. The scary fact of the matter though is that the story, even after this shift, carries on as a full-on piece of realism.
And that’s quite a trick on Simpson’s part.
The selection:
I told Lauren last night. I had to. She kept asking me what happened with Glenn. She was so good, you couldn’t believe it, she was great. We were talking late and this morning we drove down to go to House of Pancakes for breakfast, get something good instead of watery eggs for a change. And on the way, Lauren’s driving, she just skids to a stop on this street, in front of this elementary school. “Come on,” she says. It’s early, but there’s already people inside the windows.
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