Walter Abish, "Ardor/Awe/Atrocity"


1. One of the central techniques employed in this story is the use of fragmentation to re-form the structure of what could be a relatively traditional tale. Describe the different levels of fragmentation at work in "Ardor/Awe/Atrocity." How are they linked, and how do they remain fragments? At a more specific level, describe the relationship between the superscripts and the text. Why are the subtitles of the story used as the cross-reference points of the narrative? How does the technique of mock-footnoting interrupt and enhance the experience of reading the story? If the system of numeration were omitted, what would be lost?

2. How does the television series "Mannix" get both integrated into and fragmented by the story? How does "Mannix" function to define Southern California? What is meant by the line "Without Mannix Southern California would be bereft of the distinction between ardor, awe, and atrocity"?

3. Describe the portrayal of Southern California in "Ardor/Awe/Atrocity." Compare and contrast this portrayal to the narrative experiences that the reader is able to piece together of both Jane and Bob Down.

4. At the end of this work, the narrator notes, "The book is set in Southern California, a place I’ve never visited." How does the entrance of the narrator affect the structure of "Ardor/Awe/Atrocity"? In what sense is the narrator's role an extension of the way point of view works in the story? In what sense does the narrator's presence appear to change the perspective entirely?