The Swimmers (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Joyce Carol Oates
- First Published: 1989
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: 1959-1971
- Setting: The Chautauqua Mountains of New York State
- Principal Characters: Sylvie, Joan Lunt, Clyde Farrell, Robert Waxman
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, United States or Americans, Love or romance, Violence, Swimming or swimmers
- Locales: New York, Chautauqua Mountains, NY
The Story
Sylvie looks back at a sequence of events that occurred in 1959 when she was thirteen years old and observed the relationship between her uncle, Clyde Farrell, and Joan Lunt, a mysterious new woman in town.
Clyde and Joan meet when both are swimming one early morning at the YMCA. Clyde admires Joan's style of swimming even before he sees her up close. Although they swim together in the pool, they do not speak to each other. The next time he sees her at the pool, he introduces himself. Strongly attracted to each other, Clyde and Joan soon begin spending most of...
[The entire page is 1491 words long]
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