"We Didn't" By Stuart Dybek

I really enjoyed reading this story. And no, it's not only because it was a sexual story. It was because it was a story, that to me, seemed to be more about love.

I like that Dybek starts off with the excerpt from Yehuda Amichai's "We Did It" because you have something to work with when you start reading his story, "We Didn't. " By him starting off with the "We Did It" excerpt Dybek teases you into wanting to know what the character specifically didn't do? You want to know what they didn't do in front of a mirror, in the light, in the darkness, in the water, and in the high grass.

I think that even though the story was sexual it was really more about love. The male character describes his wanting to tell the female character, whose nickname seems to be "Gin," how much he cares about her. He says how initially it was more about sex but that later on it changed into something more profound. I like the way Dybek uses the show don't tell approach. He doesn't just say that the male character liked/loved "Gin" he describes it. An example being

"I stepped into the rain, and you came back out, calling after me."

"What? I asked, feeling a surge of gladness to be summoned back into the doorway with you."

"Want an umbrella"?

"I didn't"

It makes you feel bad for the character. It makes you care. Or at least it made me care because everyone has an experience involving love or liking someone. And a lot of these experiences don't turn out so well. I think Dybek does a good job making the reader connect with the character.

Does anyone else think the story was more about love then sex?