I Thought My Father Was God : And Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project

by Paul Auster

• ISBN13: 9780805067149
• ISBN10: 0805067140
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2001-09-13
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Summary

One of America's foremost writers collects the best stories submitted to NPR's popular monthly show--and illuminates the powerful role storytelling plays in all our lives When Paul Auster and NPR's Weekend All Things Considered introduced The National Story Project, the response was overwhelming. Not only was the monthly show a critical success, but the volume of submissions was astounding. Letters, emails, faxes poured in on a daily basis- more than 4,000 of them by the time the project celebrated its first birthday. Everyone, it seemed, had a story to tell. I Thought Mmy Father Wwas Godgathers 180 of these personal, true-life accounts in a single, powerful volume. They come from people of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. Half of the contributors are men; half are women. They live in cities, suburbs, and rural areas, and they come from 42 different states. Most of the stories are short, vivid bits of narrative, combining the ordinary and the extraordinary, and most describe a single incident in the writer's life. Some are funny, like the story of how a Ku Klux Klan member's beloved dog rushed out into the street during the annual KKK parade and unmasked his owner as the whole town looked on. Some are mysterious, like the story of a woman who watched a white chicken walk purposefully down a street in Portland, Oregon, hop up some porch steps, knock on the door-and calmly enter the house. Many involve the closing of a loop, like the one about the woman who lost her mother's ashes in a burglary and recovered them five years later from the mortuary of a local church. Hilarious blunders, wrenching coincidences, brushes with death, miraculous encounters, improbable ironies, premonitions, sorrows, pains, dreams-this singular collection encompasses an extraordinary range of settings, time periods, and subjects. A testament to the important role storytelling plays in all our lives,I Thought My Father Was Godoffers a rare glimpse into the American soul.

Author Biography

Paul Auster's most recent novel, Timbuktu, was a national bestseller. He began the National Story Project in 1999. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xv
Animals
The Chicken	3	(1)
Linda Elegant
Rascal	4	(2)
Yale Huffman
The Yellow Butterfly	6	(1)
Simonette Jackson
Python	7	(2)
Judith Beth Cohen
Pooh	9	(2)
Patricia L. Lambert
New York Stray	11	(1)
Edith S. Marks
Prop Chop	12	(2)
Eric Wynn
B	14	(2)
Suzanne Stroh
Two Loves	16	(1)
Will Coffey
Rabbit Story	17	(2)
Barry Foy
Carolina	19	(2)
Kelly O'Neill
Andy and the Snake	21	(3)
Ron Fabian
Blue Skies	24	(1)
Corki Stewart
Exposure	25	(2)
Michael Oppenheimer
Vertigo	27	(6)
Janet Schmidt Zupan
Objects
Star and Chain	33	(1)
Steve Lacheen
Radio Gypsy	34	(2)
Bill Calm
A Bicycle Story	36	(3)
Edith Reimer
Grandmother's China	39	(2)
Kristine Lundquist
The Bass	41	(3)
Mark Snyder
Mother's Watch	44	(2)
Raymond Barry
Case Closed	46	(1)
Jerry Hoke
The Photo	47	(2)
Beverly Peterson
MS. Found in an Attic	49	(1)
Marcus Rosenbaum
Tempo Primo	50	(2)
Lauren Shapiro
A Lesson Not Learned	52	(2)
Carol Sherman-Jones
A Family Christmas	54	(1)
Don Graves
My rocking Chair	55	(2)
Dick Bain
The Unicycle	57	(2)
Gordon Lee Stelter
Moccasins	59	(2)
Fr. Keith Clark
The Stripped Pen	61	(2)
Robert M. Rock
The Doll	63	(3)
Robert McGee
The Videotape	66	(2)
Marie Johnson
The Purse	68	(2)
Barbara Hudin
A Gift of Gold	70	(5)
JOhn Keith
Families
Rainout	75	(1)
Stan Benkoski
Isolation	76	(2)
Lucy Hayden
Connections	78	(2)
Miriam Rosenzweig
The Wednesday Before Christmas	80	(2)
Jack Fear
How My Father Lost His Job	82	(3)
Fred Muratori
Danny Kowlaski	85	(2)
Charlie Peters
Revenge	87	(2)
Eric Brotman
Chris	89	(3)
Edwina Portelle Romero
Put Your Little Foot	92	(3)
Anna Thorson
Aunt Myrtle	95	(2)
Laura Braughton Waters
American Odyssey	97	(2)
Jane Adams
A Plate of Peas	99	(2)
Rick Beyer
Wash Guilt	101	(2)
Heather Atwood
Double Sadness	103	(3)
Martha Russell Hsu
A Picture of Life	106	(3)
Jeanine Mankins
Margie	109	(2)
Christine Kravetz
One Thousand Dollars	111	(3)
I. Z.
Taking Leave	114	(6)
Joe Miceli
Act of Memory	120	(5)
Mary Grace Dembeck
Slapstick
Bicoastal	125	(1)
Beth Kivel
A Felt Fedora	126	(1)
Joan Wilkins Stone
Man vs. Coat	127	(1)
Mel Singer
That's Entertainment	128	(1)
Nancy Wilson
The Cake	129	(2)
G. B.
Riding with Andy	131	(1)
Jim Furlong
Sophisticated Lady	132	(1)
Joan Vanden Heuvel
My First Day in Priest Clothes	133	(1)
Eugene O'Brien
Jewish Cowby	134	(1)
Jennifer Pye
How to Win Friends and Influence People	135	(1)
Jerry Yellin
Your Father Has the Hay Fever	136	(3)
Tony Powell
Lee Ann and Holly Ann	139	(1)
Holly A. Heffelbower
Why I Am Antifur	140	(2)
Freddie Levin
Airport Story	142	(2)
Randy Welch
Tears and Flapdoodle	144	(2)
Alice Owens-Johnson
The Club Car	146	(2)
John flannelly
Bronx Cheer	148	(2)
Joe Rizzo
One Day In Higley	150	(3)
Carl Brooksby
Strangers
Dancing on Seventy-fourth Street	153	(1)
Catherine Austin Alexander
A Conversion with Bill	154	(2)
John Brawley
Greyhounding	156	(3)
Beth Twiggar Goff
A Little Story about New York	159	(3)
Dana T. Payne
My Mistake	162	(2)
Ludlow Perry
No Forwarding Address	164	(1)
Josh Dorman
The New Girl	165	(3)
Marc Mitchell
The Iceman of Market Street	168	(3)
R. C. Van Kooy
Me and the Babe	171	(1)
Saul Isler
Lives of the Poets	172	(1)
Clayton Eshleman
Land of the Lost	173	(2)
Erica Hagen
Rainbow	175	(2)
Katie Letcher Lyle
Rescued by God	177	(2)
Mary Ann Garrett
My Story	179	(4)
Rachel Watson
Small World	183	(3)
Paul K. Humiston
Christmas Morning, 1949	186	(2)
Sylvia Seymour Akin
Brooklyn Roberts	188	(2)
Adolph Lopez
$1,380 per Night, Double Occupancy	190	(5)
Bruce Edward Hall
A Shot in the Light	195	(7)
Lion Goodman
Snow	202	(5)
Juliana C. Nash
War
The Fastest Man in the Union Army	207	(1)
Michael Kuretich
Christmas, 1862	208	(2)
Grade Sale Wilson
Mount Grappa	210	(2)
Mary Parsons Burkett
Savenay	212	(1)
Harold Tapper
Fifty Years Later	213	(1)
Gisela Cloos Evitt
He Was the Same Age as My Sister	214	(2)
Mieke C. Malandra
Betting on Uncle Louie	216	(2)
Jeanne W. Halpern
The Ten-Goal Player	218	(2)
Paul Ebeltoft
The Last HAnd	220	(2)
Bill Helmantoler
August 1945	222	(2)
Robert C. North
Dorothy North
One Autumn Afternoon	224	(2)
Willa Parks Ward
I Thought My Father Was God	226	(2)
Robert Winnie
The Celebration	228	(2)
Reginald Thayer
Christmas, 1945	230	(2)
Lloyd Hustvedt
A Trunk Full of Memories	232	(3)
Morton N. Cohen
A Walk in the Sun	235	(2)
Donald Zucker
A Shot in the Dark	237	(2)
David Ayers
Confessions of a Mouseketeer	239	(2)
Doreen Tracey
Forever	241	(2)
Maria Barcelona
Utah 1975	243	(4)
Steve Hale
Love
What If?	247	(2)
Theodre Lustig
The Mysteries of Tortellini	249	(2)
Kristina Streeter
An Involuntary Assistant	251	(2)
C. W. Schmitt
The Plot	253	(2)
Bev Ford
Mathematical Aphrodisiac	255	(2)
Alex Galt
Table for Two	257	(2)
Lori Peikoff
Suzu's Choosy	259	(1)
Suzanne Druehl
Top Button	260	(2)
Earl Roberts
Lace Gloves	262	(1)
Karen Cycon Dermody
Susan's Greetings	263	(1)
Susan Sprague
Edith	264	(3)
Bioll Froke
Souls Fly Away	267	(2)
Laura McHugh
Awaiting Delivery	269	(1)
John Wiley
The Day Paul and I Flew the Kite	270	(2)
Ann Davis
A Less in Love	272	(2)
Alvin Rosser
Ballerina	274	(2)
Nicolas Wieder
The Fortune Cookie	276	(3)
Sharli Land-Polanco
Death
Ashes	279	(2)
Sara Wilson
Harrisburg	281	(2)
Randee Rosenfeld
Something to Think About	283	(2)
P. Rohmann
Good Night	285	(2)
Ellise Rosen
Charlie the Tree Killer	287	(1)
Frank Young
Dead Man's bluff	288	(2)
Joel Einschlag
My Best Friend	290	(1)
Olga Hardman
I Didn't Know	291	(2)
Linda Marine
Cardiac Arrests	293	(1)
Sherwin Waldman
Grandmother's Funeral	294	(2)
Martha Duncan
High Streeth	296	(1)
Judith Englander
A Failed Execution	297	(2)
David Anderson
The Ghost	299	(2)
G. A. Gonzalez
Heart Surgery	301	(1)
Dr. G.
The Crying Place	302	(1)
Tim Gibson
Lee	303	(2)
Jodie Walters
South Dakota	305	(3)
Nancy Peavy
Connecting with Phil	308	(2)
Tom Sellew
The Letter	310	(2)
Brian F. McGee
Dress Behearsal	312	(3)
Ellen Powell
The Anonymous Deciding Factor	315	(4)
Hollie Caldwell Campanella
Dreams
4:05 a.m.	319	(1)
Matthew Menary
In the Middle of the Night	320	(1)
Steve Harper
Blood	321	(1)
James Sharpsteen
T321 Interpretation of Dreams	322	(1)
V. Ferguson-Stewart
Half-Ball	323	(2)
Jack Edmonston
Friday Night	325	(2)
Steve Hodgman
Farrell	327	(2)
Stew Schneider
``Jill,''	329	(1)
Kara Husson
D-Day	330	(1)
Richard R. Rosman
The Wall	331	(2)
Vicky Johnson
Heaven	333	(2)
Grace Fichtelberg
My Father's Dream	335	(2)
Mary McCallum
Parallel Lives	337	(3)
Timothy Ackerman
Anna May	340	(2)
Jeff Raper
Long Time Gone	342	(5)
Lynn Duvall
Meditations
Sewing Lessons	347	(3)
Donna M. Bronner
Sunday Drive	350	(4)
Bob Ayers
Mayonnaise Sandwiches	354	(1)
Thomas Corrado
Seaside	355	(3)
Tanya Collins
After a Long Winter	358	(1)
Eileen O'Hara
Martini with a Twist	359	(3)
Dede Ryan
Nowhere	362	(1)
John Howeze
Where in the World Is Era Rose Rodosta?	363	(2)
Carolyn Brasher
Peter	365	(3)
Mark Gover
Early Arithmetic	368	(3)
Sandra Waller
Reflections on a Hubcap	371	(2)
Roger Brinkerhoff
Homeless in Prescott	373	(3)
Arizona, B. C.
Being There	376	(2)
Tim Clancy
An Average Sadness	378	(3)
Ameni Rozsa
Index of Authors	381