Amusing story of a teacher and her class experiencing a series of deaths--trees, plants, snakes, sponsored orphans, etc. There really isn't much to it, but it is one of those stories you can read into whatever you want--the meaningless of life, for instance. It does make me want to give Barthelme another try, however. Long ago, I purchased 60 Stories from the late lamented Quality Paperback Book Club, but it did not appeal to me. It's still on my shelf, however.... ( )

This very short story with dark humour reads like a transcribe of someone's recorded monologue. The first-person narrative is quite breathless. Read it as part of my MA in English. ( )