On "The Cut-Glass Bowl" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (7400 words) *****

Here's my favorite story from Fitzgerald's Flappers and Philosophers. I've always been curious why a story like "The Offshore Pirate," which I consider pretty ridiculous (i.e., silly, in a bad way), get anthologized so often while this one is ignored. It may not have the easily identifiable characters, types, time, and plot that a classic like "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" has, but what it has is something beyond that. I love how the bowl in this story, a wedding gift, becomes an character in and of itself, taking on an almost malevolent will of its own. And I love how, through the bowl, we get a summary of this couple's entire life together. Read the story here.