The Babysitter (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Coover
- First Published: 1969
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Short fiction, Antistory
- Subjects: 1960’s, Sex or sexuality, Rape, Violence, Death or dying, Fantasy, Television or television broadcasting, Suburban life, Babysitting or babysitters
- Locales: United States
Perhaps Coover's most anthologized story, “The Babysitter” exemplifies the notion behind the title of the collection: a “pricksong,” or main theme, with “descants,” or variations on that theme. Using a series of one hundred and seven sections, the shortest containing only nineteen words and the longest nearly two-thirds of a page, “The Babysitter” takes the “pricksong” of an extremely ordinary event and transforms it with the descant of infinite possibility.
The main events can be summarized simply: At 7:40 p.m. a babysitter arrives to care for three...
[The entire page is 731 words long]
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