{"id":97135,"date":"2016-04-19T14:15:20","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T18:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=97135"},"modified":"2016-04-19T14:54:33","modified_gmt":"2016-04-19T18:54:33","slug":"we-guarantee-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/19\/we-guarantee-it\/","title":{"rendered":"We Guarantee It"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_97138\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/mattressad.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-97138\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97138\" class=\"wp-image-97138\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/mattressad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/mattressad.jpg 527w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/mattressad-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-97138\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From a vintage Sealy mattress ad.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cOh my God,\u201d I said, turning to my husband with tears in my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is it?\u201d he asked, understandably alarmed. The train had stopped at a Connecticut station\u2014Rowayton, maybe\u2014and it smelled like sun-warmed Naugahyde and Metro-North and commuter. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blinded by tears\u2014and the fact that I\u2019d removed my glasses to dash them away\u2014I pointed to an advertisement on the platform.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe town name?\u201d He said cautiously. \u201cThe sign?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe mattress ad,\u201d I said passionately. \u201c\u2018They talk about comfort. We guarantee it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked concerned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can anyone <em>guarantee<\/em> comfort in the world?\u201d I burst out. \u201cWhy would you want to? With everything going on. Why can\u2019t we <em>feel<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I think in the very limited context of a good night\u2019s sleep, it\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd it\u2019s like something out of a heavy-handed short story! I mean, could the symbolism be any more obvious? At a wealthy commuter suburb? It\u2019s like someone read one Cheever story once in high school. My God! I\u2019m blushing to be living it. Are you telling me you wouldn\u2019t roll your eyes if you read that in a manuscript? Give me a break!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He nodded tentatively.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd who are these people \u2018talking about comfort,\u2019 anyway?\u201d I continued. \u201cI guess maybe that\u2019s coded talk about Christianity? I mean \u2026 \u201d We were pulling away now. \u201cWho\u2019s <em>writing <\/em>this stuff?\u201d I muttered.<\/p>\n<p><em>Sadie Stein is contributing editor of <\/em>The Paris Review<em>, and the <\/em>Daily<em>\u2019s correspondent.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cOh my God,\u201d I said, turning to my husband with tears in my eyes. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d he asked, understandably alarmed. The train had stopped at a Connecticut station\u2014Rowayton, maybe\u2014and it smelled like sun-warmed Naugahyde and Metro-North and commuter. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d Blinded by tears\u2014and the fact that I\u2019d removed my glasses to dash them [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[14238,14460,22018,19522,1810,22017,12869,13616,12051,1296,123],"class_list":["post-97135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-advertisements","tag-comfort","tag-consumer-culture","tag-consumerism","tag-john-cheever","tag-mattresses","tag-sleep","tag-sleeping","tag-slogans","tag-trains","tag-travel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When Life Feels Like a Heavy-Handed Short Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"April 19, 2016 \u2013 \u201cOh my God,\u201d I said, turning to my husband with tears in my eyes.\u201cWhat is it?\u201d he asked, understandably alarmed. 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