THE STORY: The scene is a carnival shooting gallery, where a young man has (for several months) been shooting at a “mechanical bear,” obstinately determined to win his wife a goldfish. He has spent all their money, his wife is exhausted from being sent to fetch hot dogs and orange drinks, and their children have been virtually abandoned. Still he persists, firing away demonically and excoriating his long-suffering wife—until an unexpected and ironic happening brings a sudden, shattering calm to the scene.
This antic and biting comedy of the avant garde draws some unsettling truths from the building tension between a violent, casually brutal young man and his carping wife.
Included in the collection
Shooting Gallery and Play for Germs.
