Story: "Reunion"

"Reunion" by John Cheever is one man's memory of his last meeting with his father, in New York, at the train station and then in a series of restaurants. The narrator's father wants to have a few drinks, respectfully, with his son in a restaurant, but waiters at four different places don't welcome his father's patronage.

The story is expertly read by Richard Ford on The New Yorker Fiction podcast (12 min); Ford also penned his own story called "Reunion" inspired by Cheever's original. 

I plan to play the podcast for my students as an audio exercise, and to tell them to, as they listen, write down any words that strike them. As an example, in my last listen, I noted: 

"My father," "ripeness," "whiskey,"  "hailed," "garçon," "waiter," "Kellner," "you!" 

(These imply that the father demands respect, but does he ever get any, does he? Why not?) ; 

"New York," "restaurants"

 (These are public spaces which are kind of cold and contrast with the attempt at intimate contact. The father is struggling for a foothold in a world whose lowest rungs, the waiters, look down on him) ;  

"Gibson Beefeater, 'Bibson Geefeater.' “I’m terribly sorry” 

(The last sentence is moving; the story is about the impression the father left, which is all there really is of a relationship. It implies that the narrator worries about becoming an alcoholic or other unrespected member of society. It also implies the fear of being alone, with no family or other intimates.

Sequences: there are four internal scenes with four different waiters, each with a characteristic line of dialogue: "I don’t like being clapped at;" "I won’t serve another drink to the boy;" “This isn’t England;”  “I’m sorry sir, but this table is reserved.”