“Tommy, the Unsentimental” is our first read of the year for the Willa Cather Short Story Project. It is a very different story from last month’s sentimental story, “The Burglar’s Christmas” (which accomplished its mission back then, but seems rather conventional to contemporary sensibilities).
You can read the story over at the Willa Cather Archive: https://cather.unl.edu/writings/shortfiction/ss028
Cather was the editor of The Home Monthly when this story was published in its pages in August 1896.
The story is set in the West. Bicycles, which were the new rage in the late 19th century, play a key role.
What’s next?
Read “Tommy, the Unsentimental” sometime this month and then come back to discuss it on the response post I’ll share on January 26th, the fourth Wednesday of the month. Or, feel free to read it now and comment here if you can’t wait until then!
New to this blog? Learn more about the Willa Cather Short Story Project here. In a nutshell, we’re reading one Cather short story a month. I remind everyone of what story we’re reading on the second Wednesday of the month and then share a response on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Jump in anytime!