Snow White by Donald Barthelme Read Free Book Online Page A

Hubert, Henry, Kevin, Edward, Clem, Dan and their lover, Snow White. I sense that
     all is not well with them. Now, looking out over this green lawn, and these fine rosebushes,
     and into the night and the yellow buildings, and the falling Dow-Jones index and the
     screams of the poor, I am concerned. I have many important things to worry about,
     but I worry about Bill and the boys too. Because I am the President. Finally. The
     President of the whole fucking country. And they are Americans, Bill, Hubert, Henry,
     Kevin, Edward, Clem, Dan and Snow White. They are Americans. My Americans.”
    QUESTIONS:
    1. Do you like the story so far? Yes (  ) No (  )
    2. Does Snow White resemble the Snow White you remember? Yes (  ) No (  )
    3. Have you understood, in reading to this point, that Paul is the prince-figure?
     Yes (  ) No (  )
    4. That Jane is the wicked stepmother-figure? Yes (  ) No (  )
    5. In the further development of the story, would you like more emotion (  ) or less
     emotion (  )?
    6. Is there too much blague in the narration? (  ) Not enough blague? (  )
    7. Do you feel that the creation of new modes of hysteria is a viable undertaking
     for the artist of today? Yes (  ) No (  )
    8. Would you like a war? Yes (  ) No (  )
    9. Has the work, for you, a metaphysical dimension? Yes (  ) No (  )
    10. What is it (twenty-five words or less)?
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    11. Are the seven men, in your view, adequately characterized as individuals? Yes
     (  ) No (  )
    12. Do you feel that the Authors Guild has been sufficiently vigorous in representing
     writers before the Congress in matters pertaining to copyright legislation? Yes (  )
     No (  )
    13. Holding in mind all works of fiction since the War, in all languages, how would
     you rate the present work, on a scale of one to ten, so far? (Please circle your answer)
    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10
    14. Do you stand up when you read? (  ) Lie down? (  ) Sit? (  )
    15. In your opinion, should human beings have more shoulders? (  ) Two sets of shoulders?
     (  ) Three? (  )

PART TWO

PERHAPS we should not be sitting here tending the vats and washing the buildings and carrying
     the money to the vault once a week, like everybody else. Perhaps we should be doing
     something else entirely, with our lives. God knows what. We do what we do without
     thinking. One tends the vats and washes the buildings and carries the money to the
     vault and never stops for a moment to consider that the whole process may be despicable.
     Someone standing somewhere despising us. In the hot springs of Dax, a gouty thinker
     thinking, father forgive them. It was worse before. That is something that can safely
     be said. It was worse before we found Snow White wandering in the forest. Before we
     found Snow White wandering in the forest we lived lives stuffed with equanimity. There
     was equanimity for all. We washed the buildings, tended the vats, wended our way to
     the county cathouse once a week (heigh-ho). Like everybody else. We were simple bourgeois.
     We knew what to do. When we found Snow White wandering in the forest, hungry and distraught,
     we said: “Would you like something to eat?” Now we do not know what to do. Snow White
     has added a dimension of confusion and miseryto our lives. Whereas once we were simple bourgeois who knew what to do, now we are
     complex bourgeois who are at a loss. We do not like this complexity. We circle it
     wearily, prodding it from time to time with a shopkeeper’s forefinger: What is it?
     Is it, perhaps, bad for business? Equanimity has leaked away. There was a moment, however, when equanimity was not
     the chief consideration. That moment in which we looked at Snow White and understood
     for the first time that we were fond of her. That was a moment.
    Reaction to the hair: Two older men standing there observed Snow White’s hair black as ebony tumbling from
     the