Aimee Bender's "Off"

       Bender does a really great job with the characterization of the speaker in this short story. The reader can really get a sense of who this woman is, despite the lack of personal background information given.  The first person point of view pulls the reader into her confusing and erratic psyche, emphasized by the rambling, stream of consciousness writing style.  We have no idea why she wants/needs to kiss three specific men at this party, and we really have no idea why she does most of the things she does in this story, but we can infer what kind of woman she is based on the details provided.  She mentions being known as a trust fund kid and notices superficial details while at the party, so we get a sense she's generally a materialistic kind of person.  The voice of this woman is often sarcastic, like when she says, "I stand alone because I plan on making all these women jealous, reminding them how incredible it is to be single" (108) - obviously she is a lonely, attention-seeking sort of person if she is setting a kissing goal at a party, and doesn't really see being single as incredible.  This sarcasm makes me curious about this character - why does she seemingly poke fun at herself? 
     I found this point of view and the stream of consciousness style to be really compelling and something I would want to (and already enjoy) using in my writing.  I think it's a great way to reveal who a character is by making the reader figure it out through the character's thoughts.  It also allows for an author to make their character take a different approach on a common situation, keeping it interesting and fresh.  I also like that we never learn this woman's name - despite the whole story being intimately in this woman's point of view, we never actually know who she is, and that opposition/paradox/juxtaposition is pretty striking.   
      Ultimately, I enjoyed seeing this snippet of this woman's life!