I can't remember and it's killing me!

October 30, 2006 7:01 PM

What is the name of this novel/short story? A father is speaking to his daughter (Melanie maybe?) on the phone, and she tells him either that she's pregnant or marrying a much older man, who I think was her professor. I distinctly remember the professor being older than the father by quite a bit; I think the professor gets on the phone and calls the father "sir." The father is horrified, and to make matters worse, he and his wife are getting a divorce, which he doesn't want to tell his daughter about.
posted by tatiana wishbone to media & arts (5 comments total)

"Aren't You Happy for Me?" by Richard Bausch.
posted by Eldritch at 7:06 PM on October 30, 2006

It's a short story, by the way, and the daughter's name is indeed, Melanie.
posted by Eldritch at 7:10 PM on October 30, 2006

Whoa, synchronicity--we just read this today in my fiction workshop!
posted by soviet sleepover at 7:27 PM on October 30, 2006

Rock on Eldritch, thank you!

And soviet, I read this in a fiction workshop too at some point - I wanted to read it again but could not for the life of me remember what it was called.
posted by tatiana wishbone at 7:32 PM on October 30, 2006

It could be Coetzee's Disgrace, too.
posted by nasreddin at 7:43 PM on October 30, 2006