youre ugly too. im lovin to read this one. catch uP.

INTRODUCTION
"You're Ugly, Too" by Lorrie Moore was first published in the New Yorker in 1989 and was subsequently included in Moore's second collection, Like Life, and in several anthologies, including the The Best American Short Stories, 1989, the 1997 anthology, The Penguin Book of International Women's Stories and The Best American Short Stories of the Century, edited by John Updike. "You're Ugly, Too" wasMoore's first story to find a home in the New Yorker, the magazine considered by many to be the pre-eminent publication for new fiction.
According to Don Lee, writing in Ploughshares, the story also had the distinction of causing a bit of a stir in the magazine's editorial offices. With the "turgidity" of long-time editor William Shaw still gripping the venerable "institution," New Yorker editors pointed out toMoore several "vulgarities" of the writing process she had committed in the story. "All through the editing process, they said, 'Oooh, we're breaking so many rules with this,"' Lee quotesMoore as saying.

Acclaimed for the cutting sarcasm and wit that Moore has come to be known for, "You're Ugly, Too" tells the story of Zoë Hendricks, an unmarried history professor who lives alone in the small Midwestern town of Paris, Illinois, and teaches in the local liberal arts college; the story examines her relationships with men, her students, her sister and, in general, her life. With a sparse plot,Moore's story relies on Hendricks's character and the running gags and jokes she relentlessly throws at anyone within listening distance to sustain it.

While one of the major themes that "You're Ugly, Too" addresses is obviously sexual relationships (throughout much of the story, Hendricks's relationships to men are somehow addressed, either through anecdotes, her biting commentary, or in the story's final scenes at a Halloween party where Hendricks is engaged in a long conversation with a recent divorcé), issues of loneliness, alienation and mortality play a prominent role in the development of Hendricks's character.




the story runs like this..
"You're Ugly, Too" is a much more character-driven story than it is a plot-driven one. With a sparse plot, but layered with anecdotes and flashbacks that reveal the main character to be cynical and dismissive in her relationships with nearly everyone in her life, especially men, the story offers a glimpse into the thoughts and daily life of an unmarried Midwestern history professor who flies to Manhattan to spend Halloween weekend with her younger sister.

Although narrated in the third person, "You're Ugly, Too" is told from the point of view of Zoë Hendricks who, when the story opens, has been teaching atMidwest colleges for four years. Her first teaching stint was in New Geneva, Minnesota, or "Land of the Dying Shopping Mall" where "[e]veryone was so blond . . . that brunettes were often presumed.....

Section 1 Summary
Zoe Hendricks is a history professor at Hillsdale-Versailles, a small, liberal arts college in the heart of rural Illinois. The opening paragraph mocks the very setting of the college, noting the odd of names of farm towns in Illinois, such as Oblong, Paris and Normal. Even the mentality of the townspeople are mocked by Zoe's comment that when a big story like the two-hundred-point drop in the New York Stock Exchange occurred, the headline of the local newspaper blurted, "Normal Man Marries Oblong Woman."

Zoe is teaching at this institution, because a previous sex-discrimination lawsuit had been filed against the university, and the placement of a female history professor erased the lawsuit's accusations. The male faculty members there enjoy having a female in the ranks, even though they notice Zoe's eccentricities, like singing in.....

Section 2 Summary

After throwing up into an airline bag while on the flight to New York, Zoe is reunited with her sister at her apartment. She hugs her sister hard, realizing that when they were younger, she took care of Evan. Now Evan has taken on the role of advisor and counselor. Evan's apartment belongs to her boyfriend, Charlie, and is large and well-situated with a balcony and a doorman, far above Zoe's means. Evan admits to Zoe that her relationship with Charlie is mundane, almost sexless. While Zoe thinks that she feels like a bird being situated on the twenty-first floor, Evan continues to complain that Charlie is messy and lazy and uninvolved. When Zoe comments that they might as well get married, Evan admits that they are going to, asking Zoe to be.....