Don't Call Me by My Right Name
by James Purdy
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See Also
- James Purdy (Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition)
- James Purdy (Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition)
- James Purdy (Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition)
- James Purdy (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
- Theory of Short Fiction (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: James Purdy
- First Published: 1956
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: A mid-twentieth century Halloween evening
- Setting: An unspecified city
- Characters: Lois Klein, Frank Klein
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: Self, Domestic violence, Names, Size or shape, Parties, Aging, Halloween
- Locales: United States, North America
The Story
Lois Klein decides that although she likes her husband Frank, to whom she has been married for six months, she does not care for his last name. Her maiden name, Lois McBane, by which she was known both professionally and socially, provided her with a sense of identity that she feels she has lost through her marriage. What it is about the name that annoys her she cannot say, but clearly it involves the fact that because she is a large, middle-aged woman, the name “Klein,” German for “small,” is inappropriate for her appearance. How long this discontent has been...
(The entire page is 1491 words.)
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