Challenge 1007

Hoods Dark and Deep

  1. In Charles C. Cole’s Joe Avery Goes for a Ride:

    1. What action in the opening of the story might tell a veteran reader that the conclusion is unlikely to be as optimistic as in other chapters?
    2. In what way is the chapter necessary for building the character of Joe Avery?
    3. In what way is Joe Avery a 21st-century character rather than one that, say, Achim von Arnim would have recognized?

  2. In Gary Inbinder’s Los Angeles:

    1. Why does the narrative logic justify making it difficult for Max Niemand to locate and find Roxy Blaine?
    2. In what ways might Roxy’s offer to participate in “business” with Max be more attractive than Eve’s or John Merwin’s?

  3. In Achim von Arnim’s Madame de Saverne:

    1. Why might the author have chosen Louis XVI as the idol for Madame de Saverne’s “cult of personality” rather than Napoleon or some other European monarch?
    2. How might the story have been read in the 19th century to depict the action in the various scenes? Literature was often read aloud in homes to interested audiences.
    3. Is the story a tragedy or a comedy?

  4. In Rosalind Goldsmith’s Walking the Hood: Are the characters in the neighbourhood entirely implausible? Might some or even all have appeared in newspaper reports at some time?

  5. In Stephen Tillman’s Dust Pile:

    1. Why is it better that the title appear in the singular, “Dust Pile,” rather than the plural, “Dust Piles”?
    2. How does the author expand or reinforce the traditional characteristics of vampires?

    6. Responses welcome!


    What is a Bewildering Stories Challenge?

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