Zev’s Comments (group member since Feb 26, 2019)

Zev’s comments from the What's the Name of That Book??? group.

I'm pretty sure this took place in America. Maybe somewhere in New England. I want to say it took place in the fifties, or it -felt- like the fifties for reasons I can't remember. The cover may have been gray with white font. I think this was a standalone, and I remember it being short.

Mr Logman (?) was enthusiastically greeted by a former student at a class reunion or picnic. The student was in her 30s by then, married with kids and absolutely thrilled to see her favorite teacher. I think she may have hugged him, and he was probably surprised. She (Laura?) introduced her teacher to her husband. Mr Logman's heart broke as he realized all he would ever be to her was a teacher. Laura had a crush on him as a student. She didn't know it was mutual.

Mr Logman was perpetually single despite trying to date in his own age range and social standing. Women didn't seem connected to him, for whatever reason. His mother was OVERBEARING and -so- mean. When he was a teenager, he excitedly brought home a girl for dinner. The date went great! he thought. His mother seemed interested. He excused himself to the bathroom and then walked his date to the street end, or home.
He was preparing to ask her for a second date when she said, "Your mother told me about your preference for men," and asked him not to call or see her again.
His overbearing mother had told that lie so that he would never get married, and she told him this when he asked what happened. Something about "you always have to be here with me."

I think the mom died later on, or was dying. Somehow she had less power over him as the book progressed.
He became a teacher and has been falling in love with female students ever since. He really wanted to be married and love someone. The entire story was sad and verged on bleak, and ended on a quietly disconcerting note.

I'll comment if I remember anything else.

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Yes! Thank you.

This was a paperback book. I read it in the early 2000s but I think it was written before that. Elizabeth? was dating Ethan, but really wanted to date another guy. She played them off and tried to make both boys/young men jealous. Ethan played football. At one point, she and her friends cheered him on in the stands.

"This can't really compare to (other guy) swimming," one of Elizabeth's friends, Tasha (?) said. "Wow, he's going in a straight line. He's still swimming in a straight line! Boy, this is exciting," she described an imaginary swim meet dryly. Elizabeth laughed and defended her swimmer boyfriend.

The book contained multiple POVs. One of them was the swimmer boyfriend's POV. He wanted to be with Elizabeth, but knew he was being involved in a love triangle and had no idea why. He thought and thought about it, even while swimming. He finished his daily laps, was still thinking about Elizabeth, and thought to himself, "Well, it's nothing another fifty laps couldn't cure." He jumped back into the pool and a new chapter started.

He was also struggling with his father remarrying. His dad had remarried a Native American woman, whose origins were brought up every sentence she was mentioned. The book, though, kept referring to her as American Indian, and mentioned a few times that she or her parents had been involved in the American Indian Movement. He also clearly thought she was hot. I remember being unsettled by this--she was his stepmother and clearly uninterested. She was nice to him though, and was trying to get to know him.

I'm pretty sure Elizabeth wound up with the swimmer at the end. The book ended on a cliffhanger of some kind.

I'll comment if I remember anything else.

Yes! Thank you!

I think I read this between 2007-2013.
I don't remember if it was fiction or nonfiction. I remember most of the stories being between opposite sex partners, but some same-sex stories. I think there were a dozen stories. The title may have been First Time or something to do with cherries? I remember cherries on the dark blue or black book cover.

One was of a girl who didn't want to have sex before marriage, and it hadn't come up between her and her boyfriend yet. They were passionately kissing and she shifted position on the couch, accidentally crushing a bag of chips with her back. "Very few people think about chips in the heat of passion. But tortilla chips have very pointy edges." The girl's name was possibly Beth? She told her boyfriend she wanted to wait and he was a little surprised, but fine. They went out for Italian food. The server asked if they wanted extra virgin olive oil and they both laughed. "I can bring you butter instead," she suggested. "No," said the boyfriend, taking Beth's hand and smiling. "This is right." I think the story was called Extra Virgin.

Another story in the anthology had a title with a math pun. The POV character was a huge math nerd. He would give himself pep talks while biking up the hill to school. "Man, I'm feeling kind of obtuse," he'd say during a bad day, and then, "I'm feeling absolutely acute!" on a wonderful day. He had a huge crush on a boy in his class, who he was assigned to tutor. The boy's name was Matt. After they had sex, Matt ignored him and hissed at him when he tried to ask why Matt was ignoring him. Matt used homophobic slurs. The POV character realized Matt was struggling with his sexuality and he didn't want to have to comfort Matt, since he was already out and it had been a hard journey.

I think one of the stories written about two women having sex involved Catholicism and guilt.

I'll comment if I remember anything else.

Multiple choice" by Janet Tashjian

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This seems familiar. Was one of the daughters named Katherine and went to college for piano or singing?

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Could it be "The View from Saturday" by E L Koningsburg?