THE STORY: Mommy and Daddy sit in a barren living room making small talk. Mommy, the domineering wife, is grappling with the thought of putting Grandma in a nursing home. Daddy, the long-suffering husband, could not care less. Grandma appears, lugging boxes of belongings, which she stacks by the door. Mommy and Daddy can’t imagine what’s in those boxes, but Grandma is well aware of Mommy’s possible intentions. Mrs. Barker, the chairman of the women’s club, arrives, not knowing why she is there. Is she there to take Grandma away? Apparently not. It all becomes evident when Grandma reveals to Mrs. Barker the story of the botched adoption of a “bumble of joy” twenty years ago by Mommy and Daddy. Mrs. Barker appears to have figured it out when Young Man enters. He’s muscular, well-spoken, the answer to Mommy and Daddy’s prayers: The American Dream. Grandma convinces him to assist in her master plan. She puts one over on everybody and escapes the absurdly realistic world which she finds so predictable.
Originally paired with
The Death of Bessie Smith by the same author.
“What counts is the fact that it is grandly funny.” —New York World-Telegram & Sun.
“The small change of ordinary conversation is turned on its head with a cynical innocence that makes for laughter, both ironic and offbeat.” —The New York Times.
Included in the collection
The American Dream, The Sandbox, The Death of Bessie Smith, Fam and Yam.
