The Last Days of a Famous Mime (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Peter Carey
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Plot: Absurdist, existential
- Time of Work: The 1970's
- Setting: Australia
- Principal Characters: A Mime, A woman
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s, Twentieth century, Art or artists, Writing, Fear, Accidents, Death or dying, Entertaining or entertainers, Australia or Australians
- Locales: Australia
The Story
A mime arrives in an Australian airport for a performance tour of the country. The mime is famous throughout Europe for his ability to invoke terror in his audiences, but little is known about him in Australia. Members of the media greet him at the airport and ask him what is in the package he is carrying. He replies that it contains a blue string and explains that “The string is a prayer I am always praying.” The Australian media fail to understand the significance of his answer: that the blue string helps him overcome his despair, a personal condition familiar...
[The entire page is 1322 words long]
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