"You're Ugly, Too!" by Lorrie Moore was first published in the New Yorker in 1989 and has been published several more times since then.
‘‘You're Ugly, Too’’ tells the story of Zoë Hendricks, an unmarried history professor who lives alone in the small Midwestern town of Paris, Illinois, and teaches in the local liberal arts college; the story examines her relationships with men, her students, her sister and, in general, her life. With a sparse plot,Moore's story relies on Hendricks's character and the running gags and jokes she relentlessly throws at anyone within listening distance to sustain it.
The above quote was taken from Book Rags.
Relationships with Men:
Feels that all men wanted her to be like Heidi, however we find out about three of Zoe's relationships. The first is with a man in the munuicipal bureaucracy. They met when he fixed a parking ticket for her. The second a man that was "sweeter, lunkier, though not insensitive to certain paitings and songs." And finally the third we find out is Murray Peterson, but he liked to look at other women. These all lead into the conversation that is the most sarcastic part of the whole story and that is with Earl, a coworker of Zoe's sister. It's here that we see Zoe is really having difficulty life and that her approach is to just laugh it all off. She is very cynical.
Her Students:
The little we know is that she had had positions at two different universities and that at her current job the students don't like her very muchand she doesn't seem to really be teaching them. They are saying things like:
"Professor Hendricks seems to know the entire soundtract to "The King and I." Is this history?"
"Sometimes Professor Hendricks will take up the class's time just talking about movies she's seen."
Her Sister and Her Life:
Zoe and her sister seem to have a very good relationship. We find that they speak often and that Zoe visits with her a lot. This is why Zoe doesn't want to scare her sister with the problems that are going on in Zoe's medical life. Zoe seems to have some sort of growth inside of her that is making her become protective of her personal details and so she uses humor instead. She seems to think that humor will be the thing that will save her from being hurt. The title of her book is even "Hearing the One About: Uses of Humor in the American Presidency."
Discussion Questions:
Why do you think that Zoe has had such problems with men? What does it mean and why is it so important to the story?
What do you think about Zoe as a teacher?
Do you think that her medical condition is affecting the way that she is thinking or is this just the way that she is?
Posted by Tiffany Brattina at March 31, 2005 4:53 PM | TrackBack