New Yorker Fiction Review #317: "Jenny Annie Fanny Addie" by Adam Levin
Review of the short story from the April 21, 2025 issue of The New Yorker... "Jenny Annie Fanny Addie" is a strange story little story but I found its attempt to capture the inner workings of the pre-teenage (tweenage?) mind interesting enough to read it a second time. It also helps that the story is short, weighing in at about 3500 words or so. The action of the story follows an 11/12 year old girl named Addie and takes place on one day during the summer. While taking swimming lessons at her day camp, a special needs boy violently gropes her in full view of other members of the camp. The incident is short and a lifeguard neutralizes any danger quickly. Addie's Mom comes to pick her up. They go out to eat. They go to watch "Terminator 2" in the theater. They drive home. Addie takes a nap, wakes up, and goes out for a walk. Those are the barest mechanics of the plot on a temporal, Point A to Point B level. The real "stuff" of this story, however, tak...
