Bullet in the Brain

In “Bullet in the Brain,” a successful, but deeply unhappy, literary critic experiences the crisis of middle age when youthful hopes and expectations collapse against the rocks of reality. The story asks whether such a person’s demand for excellence and judgmental attitude toward art might finally leave him to drown in a sea of self-hatred and disapproval.

The protagonist, Anders, evaluates books, and his ongoing dissatisfaction with contemporary writing leaks into the rest of his life—his impatience with his first lover’s inanity, the loss of love for his wife, the souring of his relationship with his unhappy daughter.

One afternoon while standing in line at a bank, Anders melts down. In describing Anders’s emotional collapse, the author suggests that a lifetime of looking down one’s nose at artistic attempts now causes the critic to look down his nose at everything else, and, eventually, at himself. That this happens in public, during a bank robbery no less, sets the stage for Anders’s self-destructive actions, behaviors he can’t control, and, it seems, no longer wants to control.

The two robbers take over the lobby and demand silence from the customers and money from the tellers. Anders comments loudly and caustically at the robbers’ use of trite movie dialog. When one of the criminals threatens him and forces him to look up at the ceiling, Anders critiques the overhead painting. When the robber threatens him again and asks, “Capiche?”, Anders bursts out laughing at the overused word. It is completely unsurprising when the robber shoots him.

The story warns compulsive, unempathetic critics: Their overbearing powers of assessment might one day turn on them.