Stephen Dixon story
We're reading one for class tonight; "Man, Woman, and Boy." Just reread it in the car yesterday and realized it would've fit much better under structure. The story runs backwards in time for a large part of it and the opening is a realistic scene of two people splitting up, but that's just something the narrator is imagining happening. The story goes back and back and back like this downward spiral staircase, uncovering what has gone wrong that day and the day before and the day before to bring this couple to what might be the end of their relationship. How does he do that? Well, first he explains how the opening scene didn't happen at all, except in his head. "They move backward, she to the couch, he to the chair. They never drank coffee, never made it; never had that conversation." Then to the current moment: "They're both reading, or she is and he has the book on his lap." The next time shift backwards to explain their trouble happe...