Sam Shepard "Land of the Living" NEW YORKER

　　There is little plot worthy of mentioning. My first impression was: why? Is this a short story? 　　The narrator (protagonist) goes to a Mexican resort, Cancun, with his family: wife, daughter Emma, and son. During the trip his wife accuses him for his “girl friend” by telling him that she heard her voice on his cell phone. The quarrel does not develop but dies down to a “decent” relationship between the two. He sees an old couple, first at the airport customs, next in the hotel, and thirdly happens to take the seat in front of them in the return plane, where the old man suffers a stroke and dies. This is the end of the story. There is no surprise ending nor moving scene. I was disappointed at the nonevent-style ending. 　　On second thought, however, as Mr. Christopher Morone pointed out, this is superficially a story of a husband and his wife, but under the disguise lies a true story of the husband and his mistress. He gets fed up with his mistress and goes on a vacation to avoid her, but when he returns from the vacation, his cell phone starts ringing in the middle of the bed “right where I’d left it.” He goes on a vacation but returns to just where he leaves, only arousing suspicion on the part of his wife. 　　Another finding is that the story consists of a long, but natural conversation between the husband and his wife, and him and Emma. This is because Sam Shepard is a playwright. 　　It would be interesting to write a story which hides another story behind it and reveals itself in the end. Sam Shepard (born November 5, 1943) is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play, Buried Child. (Wikipedia)