HYSTERICS
Du Rand is undeniably a first-rate writer. Her concise, eloquent story begins with her childhood as an Afrikaner in rural South Africa, then proceeds through her marriage to an American businessman and eventual career as an actress and drama therapist. Though her sparse prose makes a few sections a bit sketchy, especially the story of her introduction to American culture, its simplicity makes some moments stand out in high relief. During her first visit to an American supermarket (comfortingly named “Safeway”), she becomes so overwhelmed in the canned-vegetable aisle by all the brands and styles of tomatoes, not to mention the can sizes, that she runs into the parking lot and throws up.
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Yet during the last section of Hysterics she does bridge this gap, in part because she shifts into a different kind of material: in the last half hour or so du Rand retells the harrowing story of her hysterectomy, with its harsh lessons in mortality. Up to this point she’d focused on the things that set her apart from us: her life in Africa, her unfamiliarity with American culture, her career in the movies. During the final section she focuses instead on the kind of event that could happen to anyone. Finally she seems one of us.
