(To learn more about my "blogging the book" challenge to myself, go HERE.)
I'd never thought about how noir the life of a teaching adjunct is, or at least can be, till I read this story by Jessica Breheny. An adjunct is just another member of the gig economy, trying to patch together enough work to pay the bills. In Central California, that may mean driving between several different campuses a day. That's maybe not so terrible when you're young, but what about when youth has passed and you're still scrambling? Part of the reason "Miss Janet" makes some of the dubious choices she does in this story is that she never has a moment to just sit down and think things through.
The author teaches at San Jose City College, just like her protagonist. Luckily for her, she is not an adjunct. Luckily for us, she probably has a few more stories up her sleeve as a result of working there.
I'll just pass Frank. That's it. He doesn't want anything else from me. I'll tell him his descriptions are good in his paper and leave it at that. It's none of my business what he's done. It's between him and his conscience. Besides, he never actually says he stabbed anyone, just "because stabbed him." Without a subject in the sentence, anyone could have done the stabbing. I imagine the grammar lesson I could give with Frank's sentence--I stabbed him / You stabbed him / They stabbed him / Frank stabbed him.
Audible sample of "54028 Love Creek Road" by Jessica Breheny is HERE.
I'd never thought about how noir the life of a teaching adjunct is, or at least can be, till I read this story by Jessica Breheny. An adjunct is just another member of the gig economy, trying to patch together enough work to pay the bills. In Central California, that may mean driving between several different campuses a day. That's maybe not so terrible when you're young, but what about when youth has passed and you're still scrambling? Part of the reason "Miss Janet" makes some of the dubious choices she does in this story is that she never has a moment to just sit down and think things through.
The author teaches at San Jose City College, just like her protagonist. Luckily for her, she is not an adjunct. Luckily for us, she probably has a few more stories up her sleeve as a result of working there.
I'll just pass Frank. That's it. He doesn't want anything else from me. I'll tell him his descriptions are good in his paper and leave it at that. It's none of my business what he's done. It's between him and his conscience. Besides, he never actually says he stabbed anyone, just "because stabbed him." Without a subject in the sentence, anyone could have done the stabbing. I imagine the grammar lesson I could give with Frank's sentence--I stabbed him / You stabbed him / They stabbed him / Frank stabbed him.
Audible sample of "54028 Love Creek Road" by Jessica Breheny is HERE.
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