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my qualifi cations; I have waited and then called
back after the correct waiting time; but there
is nothing.
This is simple narration, but we accept it because we
are within an active scene.
What we know now is that Massoud Behrani was in
a position of great respect in his old country, has been
searching for a job for years, but is reduced to picking
up trash. We learn more as the chapter continues, with
Dubus alternating between action and backstory.
David Morrell begins Scavenger this way:
He no longer called her by his dead wife’s
name, even though the resemblance was strong
enough to make his heart ache. Sometimes, when
he woke and found her sitting next to his hospital
bed, he thought he was hallucinating.
“What’s my name?” she asked.
“Amanda,” he was careful to answer.
“Excellent,” a doctor said. The watchful man
never mentioned his specialty, but Balenger as-
sumed he was a psychiatrist. “I think you’re ready
to be released.”
The fi rst two lines show us the disturbance. A man in
a hospital bed. Backstory—his wife is dead—is mentioned
within the action itself.
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