The Box Social & Other Stories

by James Reaney

The Box Social & Other Stories gathers together nine of James Reaney's short fictions written in the 40s and early 50s and never previously collected in book form. The collection takes its title from a short piece the author originally published in the University College Undergrad and which provoked a firestorm of eight hundred angry letters from subscribers when it was republished nationally in the New Liberty in the late 40s. It also thwarted the young author's designs on the editorship of the Undergrad because of his clear moral unsuitability for such an august position. (This is doubtful, because the Undergrad eventually came to be edited, thirty years later, by PQL publisher Tim Inkster.) `The Box Social' is remarkable, not only that it introduced the theme of date rape to Canadian literature some thirty years before the phrase was coined, but also that it is told from Sylvia's point of view, and yet again that it ends with one of the quietest lines of literary vitriol imaginable ... ` ``I hated you so much,'' she said softly.' If Alice Munro has put the sexually awakening female under glass in Lives of Girls and Women , then The Box Social could just as easily have been titled Lives of Boys and Men . In `The Bully', the brutality of what passes for etiquette in secondary school is contrasted with the simpler life of the farm personified in Noreen who drops grain in the shape of letters to feed her chickens -- `so that when the hens ate the grain they were forced to spell out Noreen's initials or to form a cross and circle. There were just enough hens to make this rather an interesting game. Sometimes, I know, Noreen spelled out whole sentences in this way, a letter or two each night, and I often wondered to whom she was writing up in the sky.' `The Bully' was included in The New Oxford Book of Canadian Short Stories edited by Margaret Atwood and Robert Weaver. The young Margaret Atwood first encountered `The Bully' as an undergraduate. She read the story, oddly enough, in an anthology edited by Robert Weaver, and the experience was apparently seminal to her own development as a writer of fiction ...

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Horror, Canada, Adult

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 1996

About the author

James Crerar Reaney, OC FRSC was a Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor. Reaney won Canada's highest literary award, the Governor General's Award, three times and received the Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama for both his poetry and his drama.

Reviews

[Aynsleigh]

@ the box social : the FUCK

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

What

[JennieWithTheBooks☮️(◕‿◕✿) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult to put into words what I thought about this book and its author ...
I think I could say with some degree of honesty though, that I 'loved' it??
... but how can a person 'love' such strange and unpredictable characters and the oftentimes sad and tragic things that happen to them??
Going into the book, I had wished there'd been more than just 11 short stories...but there's a lot of unhappy and unfulfilled lives in those few short stories so maybe 11 or them was in fact enough?!?
There seemed to be a most disturbing theme which connected all of the stories ... destroyed innocence I think would accurately describe it.
I wonder if Reaney was a student of psychology because he really gets into your head with all of the mental suffering of his characters...
but then on the other hand, Reaney also gave some beautifully worded and unforgettable imagery... "The rain was falling in soft applause outside." I LOVE THAT!! Or, "Cars have such beautiful behinds with ruby-red roses that wink at you." Can you not just imagine the cars from back in the 20's - 50's, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE TO ME TOO.
The people in his stories are not necessarily 'evil' but their acts are morally reprehensible but yet I understood them(should I be frightened about that?)(or should you as a reader?) It was like the young souls were searching for some kind of trueness and trying to reconcile with the adult world that they were thrown into without warning... there had to be some sort of symbolism behind the author's thinking ... all but one of the stories seemed to have an overtone of non-explicit depictions of sexual behavior ... somewhat disturbing if you think about it for too long and go too deep with that theme.
I enjoyed the bygone era in which the stories took place(I guess when the stories were written by Reaney though, it was not a bygone era, it was a time in which he lived) and the local atmosphere to this region of Canada made it interesting as well. I enjoyed the finely crafted and credible characters. Overall, James Reaney is a great story-teller. A little dark(gothic)(did that exist back in his day?)(probably not!) most of the time but in some ways, it was an intelligent/vivid read. I definitely would give it 4 stars and would want to read other works by Reaney I would imagine.

[Victoria Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated/shelved for the title piece; I haven't- and don't really intend to- read the rest of the collection.

The Box Social is an intriguing short story that I worked with for my Writer's Craft course last year. I was reminded of it after rereading The Lottery tonight. Both pieces share a similarity in their escalation.

James Reaney attended the same university as I (although we were a part of different colleges within the university), and interestingly enough,

The collection takes its title from a short piece the author originally published in the University College Undergrad and which provoked a firestorm of eight hundred angry letters from subscribers when it was republished nationally in the New Liberty in the late 40s. It also thwarted the young author’s designs on the editorship of the Undergrad because of his clear moral unsuitability for such an august position.

(Source)

This short story is under two pages in length, so if you're curious, it can be found here.

[Miki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please note that I ONLY read the title story, "The Box Social". I first read "The Box Social" in elementary school. I must have been in grade 8 because my grade 8 teacher never shied away from serious issues in the literature we read. I think she's the only teacher who would have had the guts to allow us to read it. It haunted me then. It haunts me now. I'm thankful that my grade 8 teacher introduced me to Canadian James Reaney though. Not only did he teach at UWO (the university in my hometown where I completed my BA), but he was born in a small town close to London (Ontario).

This is such a good short story. If you're able to, please read it.

[Google Books: https://books.google.com/books?id=piY...]

[Hannah Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was shocking

[Jess]

Just read the Box Social, I can’t find a word to describe it or rate it

[Esmé · Rating 4 out of 5]

only read the box social, on a bit of a short story kick rn and what a way to kick it off! 4.5 realistically it was very short and im Thinkin Hard abt it still

[Caren Guerrero Acuña · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solo leí la historia que le da el nombre al título del libro. Todavía estoy un poco en shock y es muy efectiva para ser menos de dos páginas. Me llamó la atención porque lo recomendaron en un video iceberg de historias cortas en youtube y a mi mente le encanta distraerse. Hay dos interpretaciones de la historia y ambas son terribles, relacionadas con el sufrimiento de las mujeres.

[Adia]

read what I could from the preview available on Google—this included 'Fatherhood, Manhood, Circumcision, &c.', 'The Ditch: First Reading', 'Embro', and, of course, 'The Box Social'. definitely a disturbing story, but I've read enough Shirley Jackson to make me mostly immune to weird short fiction. still worth the read.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the short story The Box Social. Really creepy and weird.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

WELL, THAT'S A MESSED UP STORY, LET ME TELL YOU. I loved it.

[Endarkened~Eyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was...unexpected to say the least...

[Courtney Eberle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating is for the title piece.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

WAIT WHAT

[Areesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely terrifying

[Romi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solo leí The box social pero no lo encontré para reseñar solito.
The box social es un cuento cortísimo, de dos planas solamente, que sale en una publicación de tumblr de esas a las que la gente le sacó captura de pantalla y transmitió en todas las redes sociales que pudo. Es una publicación con recomendaciones de historias que leíste en clases y pudiste presenciar exactamente cuando cada quién llegaba al momento del texto en que se revelaba algo sorprendente. Tengo la publicación en mis "para leer mentales" hace años pero el 9 de enero finalmente se me ocurrió hacerlo algo más formal y pasarlo a mis "quiero leer" de aquí, empezando por este cuento de habla inglesa.
Ya sobre el cuento en sí, siento que siendo tan corto temo más el decir algo que les arruine la lectura, pero si puedo decirles que sorprende. La historia se va construyendo en forma agradable y acaba de pronto. Ojalá le echen una miradita, en otra reseña de aquí mismo una persona dejó un enlace para acceder al texto gratis. Lo que si, es una lectura en inglés.

[Felicia]

Läste The Box Social och blev så intrigued av denna James Reaney!! The Box Social är, som många påpekar, ganska disturbing men å andra sidan älskar jag disturbing (i måtta..:).
Återkommer om resten av novellerna peace out vänner

[Jayme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read the title story and I think it was a re-read from high school. Which is bad ass. I wonder if they still get kids to read this story...

https://msmkim.weebly.com/uploads/2/3...

[Elissa Wilkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the title story. Didn't like the writing style, but a good story

[zahraa · Rating 4 out of 5]

note that I only read the title piece

TF????

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I can think about this story is “...wtf”

[rory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the title-piece (3.5*)

[shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has such a character of description that is so haunting. The clever use of similises, metaphor, and over all story telling is unique and exciting.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Just The Box Social read*

[Matthew Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite haunting

[daisy ₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

ayo what the FUCK was the box social
forever i am traumatized

10/10 though

[e · Rating 3 out of 5]

only read the box-social, nicely written and just creepy enough.

[lyn]

i've only read the title story (the box social) and from what i remember, i had to reread it to fully understand it so take that as you will

[victoria :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

wait what