From one Jeffrey Eugenides to another Jeffrey Eugenides. When I read The Virgin Suicides, I couldn’t believe how well Eugenides – a middle-aged man – was able to portray the world of the teenage girl. Also, those uncontrollable crushes you have at that age (and afterwards). Another thing I like about Jeff is that he isn’t particularly prolific. As someone who writes slowly, this appeals to me. So when the short story collection Fresh Complaint came out it was many Christmases rolled into one. What I love about ‘Baster’ in particular (as well as how skilfully it is written and how funny it is) is the premise: a not particularly eligible man with bad teeth secretly in love with his old girlfriend inserts himself into her life forevermore by replacing the sperm of a much more eligible candidate (with excellent teeth) in the baster in her bathroom, which is charged ready for her to inseminate herself. I didn’t see it coming at all. But now you will, sorry about that.
First published in The New Yorker, June 17, 1996, and available to subscribers to read here; collected in Fresh Complaint, FSG, 2017
A Personal Anthology 