The Pedersen Kid (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: William H. Gass
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Short fiction, Antistory
- Subjects: Murder or homicide, Psychology or psychologists, Farms, farmers, or farming, Storms, Snow
- Locales: North Dakota
On the surface, at least, “The Pedersen Kid” is a relatively simple tale. A Scandinavian family, the Jorgensens, are trying to keep warm during a howling blizzard that has virtually rendered them snowbound. The family consists of Ma (Hed), a kindly, self-effacing woman, and Pa, a boorish, drunken lout who hides his whiskey bottles all over the house and expresses his displeasure by dumping the contents of his chamber pot on the heads of his victims. Jorge, their son and the narrator of the tale, fears and despises him, as does Big Hans, the hired hand who works for the family and...
[The entire page is 672 words long]
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See Also:
William H. Gass (Cyclopedia of World Authors)William H. Gass (Short Fiction)William H. Gass (Long Fiction)Theory of Short Fiction (Topical Overview--Short Fiction)
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