Donald Barthelme, “A City of Churches”
Donald Barthelme is, among other things, a master of the hinge—that moment where a story suddenly turns, and therefore transforms entirely. In “A City of Churches,” a young woman lands in a new city hoping to open a car rental business, and finds that every single building, including the barbershop and anywhere she might live, is some kind of church. This is fun, even silly, until the hinge comes, and then it isn’t. (See also: “Rebecca” and “The School”)
The story begins:
“Yes,” Mr. Phillips said, “ours is a city of churches all right.”
Cecelia nodded, following his pointing hand. Both sides of the street were solidly lined with churches, standing shoulder to shoulder in a variety of architectural styles. The Bethel Baptist stood next to the Holy Messiah Free Baptist, St. Paul’s Episcopal next to Grace Evangelical Covenant. Then came the First Christian Science, the Church of God, All Souls, Our Lady of Victory, the Society of Friends, the Assembly of God, and the Church of the Holy Apostles. The spires and steeples of the traditional buildings were jammed in next to the broad imaginative flights of the “contemporary” designs.
“Everyone here takes a great interest in church matters,” Mr. Phillips said.
Will I fit in, Cecelia wondered. She had come to Prester to open a branch office of a car-rental concern.