The January piece is "Tooth and Claw" by T.C. Boyle, published in 2004 The Best American Short Stories.
"T.C. Doyle is an American writer with a PhD in nineteenth c. British Literature. He's a lifetime member of the English Department at the University of Southern California. with professional awards spanning 44 years.
T.C. states "Literature can be great in all ways, but it's just entertainment like rock'n'roll or a film. If it doesn't capture you on that level, as entertainment, movement of plot, then it doesn't work. The beauty of the language, the characterisation, the structure, all that's irrelevant if you're not getting to the reader on that level."
Let's explore the symbolism of the story's main character's difficulty to be self-reliant and grapple with life's choices."