The British Penguin publication of this calls it a novella, because of the English aversion to short fiction, but this is one of the most perfect short stories. I feel like I am in some sort of strange green belly when reading it. “My sandwich, my banana, taste sweeter when I’m sitting on a tomb,” says the narrator. Whenever I feel like I have forgotten how to write a short story I go back to this one.
First published in French in 1970, and in its English translation by the author by Calder and Boyes, 1973. Now available in First Love and Other Novellas, Penguin Modern Classics, 2000, and The Expelled / The Calmative / The End / First Love, Faber, 2009
A Personal Anthology 