Name: Tiny, Smiling Daddy
Rating: 3.24 (10 reviews)

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Tiny, Smiling Daddy

Mary Gaitskill

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GenresShort Stories

11 pages, Unknown Binding

1 person is currently reading

56 people want to read

About the author

Mary Gaitskill is an American author of essays, short stories and novels. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories (1993 and 2006), and The O. Henry Prize Stories (1998). She married writer Peter Trachtenberg in 2001. As of 2005, she lived in New York City; Gaitskill has previously lived in Toronto, San Francisco, and Marin County, CA, as well as attending the University of Michigan where she earned her B.A. and won a Hopwood Award. Gaitskill has recounted (in her essay "Revelation") becoming a born-again Christian at age 21 but lapsing after six months.

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Community Reviews

5 stars

9 (13%)

4 stars

13 (19%)

3 stars

34 (50%)

2 stars

7 (10%)

1 star

4 (5%)

Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews

*JEN the booknerd*

225 reviews53 followers

September 11, 2019

Damn, this sure was depressing. :(

kindle

Ava

37 reviews1 follower

March 20, 2024

Had to read for class and it made me cry

Ali Hussain

2 reviews

March 16, 2020

it is story about a father who is struggling as a parent as he finds out that his daughter wrote an article about him in a magazine called "Self" where she described her story of coming out and how her parents reacted to that.
Throughout the story the protagonist experiences flashbacks of her little girl being adorable and cute and now how she turned out, he describes her as scornful.
The story depicts back in the days where there was not much positive awareness towards homosexuality and how society reacted towards those who are attracted to same sex.
The story is kind of weird in a way that her own father calls her daughter in bad words.

Kristi

2,871 reviews17 followers

January 17, 2021

Spoiler alert!!!!!!! I disliked this story intensely. It is the story of a prejudiced father who can never forgive his daughter for being a lesbian. He even has a history of physical abuse of the girl. When his daughter publishes an article about her relationship with her father, he scoffs when she writes that she has to take the good from her family to re-parent herself in a positive way. The father scoffs that there is no "tiny, smiling daddy" to pull from one's pocket to act as a parent. There is no redemption for this selfish man. Kristi & Abby Tabby

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

2021-kristi-abby-tabby

ajmariareads

19 reviews6 followers

October 17, 2022

Read this for my Art of Short Story class. Such a fascinating deep dive into the life of a character that we don’t usually see in literature. Stew’s story is difficult to tell— Gaitskill manages to be informative yet emotional without giving stew as much compassion as he would think he deserved. Also, such a formative piece to discuss voice and point of view.

Stunning story.

Scott Done

240 reviews2 followers

September 14, 2021

**short essay class**

Fucking Stew, besides that we loved the central conflict revolving around a flat characters homosexual daughter.

Matilda :)

4 reviews

March 7, 2022

I really liked how this was written but god I hated that dad

Manar Tomeh

156 reviews9 followers

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October 18, 2022

It’s really hard to craft an unlikable character from his POV. This story mastered it.

amanda

44 reviews3 followers

January 24, 2023

heartbreaking depiction of daddy issues but interestingly told from the perspective of the father. i love reading stories w flawed and unreliable narrators!