Learning to Fall (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ann Beattie
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Mothers, Friendship, Single people
- Locales: New York
Characters in two of the short stories in The Burning House represent definitive types that appear in Beattie's novels. Ruth in “Learning to Fall,” the collection's first story, is a loving, nurturing, single parent and friend. She is “learning to fall”—literally, in a dance class, but figuratively as well—to accept the inevitable. Her husband left her while she was pregnant, and her lover admires her but does not want any of the responsibility of Ruth, whose son, Andrew, was damaged in the process of being born.
The narrator of the story, a friend of Ruth,...
[The entire page is 513 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
