Rabih Alameddine's Flash Fiction 'Broken' in The New Yorker
Rabih Alameddine's flash fiction piece 'Broken,' published in The New Yorker, recounts a poignant encounter between two men in San Francisco during the summer of 1981. The narrator, a poet, describes a one-night stand with a younger man, aged twenty-one, who had just arrived in the city for graduate school. The younger man, aspiring to be a poet against his father's wishes, shares a poem that the narrator secretly admires but dismisses. After a tense breakfast, the younger man leaves. They later reconnect at a restaurant and a housewarming party, where the narrator offers friendship. The story explores themes of desire, rejection, and the unexpected bonds that form over time.
Key facts
- The story is set in San Francisco, summer of 1981.
- The younger man is twenty-one years old and has been in the city for two weeks.
- He is about to begin graduate school, funded by his parents for business, but he audits humanities classes.
- The narrator is a poet and works as a waiter.
- The younger man writes a poem about killing his father, which the narrator later encourages him to submit to a magazine.
- The poem is published years later.
- The narrator initially rejects the younger man's desire for a second encounter, citing that he talks too much.
- They meet again at a restaurant where the younger man leaves a forty-percent tip.
- At a housewarming party, the narrator offers friendship, and they bond over shared disdain for the party.
- The story is published in The New Yorker as flash fiction.
Entities
Artists
- Rabih Alameddine
Institutions
- The New Yorker
Locations
- San Francisco
- United States