another cracker from arv_d

Fantastic piece of writing.

Excellent piece. And so is 'Mother Takes London'. The best writing takes you places you think you may know about but when visiting find a whole set of new nuances to investigate. Written with restrained (British.. he. he) clarity and insight, Arvind succeeds brilliantly in what he sets out to do. More please.

wow! i really enjoyed this story. arvind seems to me to be a good thinker as well as a good writer...i thought that maybe the digression midway through the story [as interesting and well-written as it was] was maybe too long...but a hell of a good read nontheless

Many thanks to all for approbation. Rob, you are almost certainly right about the porn paranthesis: an old hobby horse of mine, so i found it difficult to dismount.... will be reigned tighter in next draft. That point prompts a more general comment about how I have begun to think of ABC tales in the context of my writing process. i find that i am generally putting stuff up at about the 4-5th draft, but at a point where I know that there will be further redrafts ahead. I just kind of get to the stage where I need feedback, where I can no longer stare alone at a sceen. The result is that the work goes up EVEN THOUGH, there are still things that I am instinctively unhappy with, but that I am not sure how to fix. Then kind folk like you come along and confirm or expose suspected weaknesses, and I'm able to refine further. Do others feel/do similar, or am I being disrespectful to the community by puting up drafts? best, AED

I thought the middle bit was the best bit. I quite like a little digression in my stories - for example, Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine, where after 10 pages, the footnotes become more long and absorbing than the story proper, or The House of Leaves, where the story is not only in the body, but the footnotes and footnotes to the footnotes.

drafts schmafts...it's alive as a story first, a piece of text second, none of your prissy editorial refinements would make the story any less human, insightful or dynamic. i like the story, the porn thing , yes it did cheapen the premise for me, only because i wanted desperately to know about how he was going to see through leaving, or not. thanks i really enjoyed reading this. and as for why there was a two year gap in procreation...it's obvious...every other year either the european football was on or the world cup...sheesh..some writers...