Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

- - - -

Dave Eggers' The Wild Things is available for preorder, in regular hardcover and
limited-edition fur-covered.

- - - -

S H O R T   I M A G I N E D
M O N O L O G U E S .

- - - -

Christopher Robin
Stages an Intervention.

BY Becky Adnot

- - - -

Thanks for joining us here tonight, Pooh. Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Tigger, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, and I thought it best that we all have a little discussion about some recent signs of addictive behavior that you've displayed. Now, we've tried to create an environment in which we can all speak openly, and I want to start things off by making it clear that this is not an attack

What? No. There isn't any honey here. Stop that—THERE'S NO HONEY. Tigger, can you grab his paws? Just get them behind his—yeah, just like that. Thanks. Try to remember that this is a positive confrontation, Pooh, not a fight. We've provided some non-habit-forming alternatives to the substance in question—perhaps you would like a glass of water, or a stick of spearmint gum? How does that sound—do you want some spearmint gum?

No? OK. Let's keep this moving, then. I've gathered some materials detailing the symptoms of substance abuse, which I thought we might go over together. Preoccupation with drug: spending a lot of time getting, using, and recovering from the substance. Does that sound like you, Pooh? Is it not true that you are very preoccupied with honey?

Here's another one. Giving up/reducing other activities. The user may begin spending less time on previously enjoyed activities, such as hobbies, sports, and socializing, in order to use. Do you remember the blustery day, Pooh, upon which you skipped the party to "stay home and eat and eat and eat," if I may quote you?

And here's one more: Significant weight gain or change in body composition. This is hard for me, Pooh—try to remember that we are not judging you!—but we can make the most progress tonight if we ground our discussion in specific instances of destructive behavior. Hence, I must remind you of the time that you polished off an extraordinary amount of Rabbit's honey and accordingly became stuck when trying to exit his residence. No, I'm not sure I can accept that as a case of a door being too small. The rest of us fit through it with very little trouble. Well, yeah, except for Eeyore. Eeyore's always had those meaty thighs.

What was that? When you mutter like that, Pooh, we can't have a productive discourse about the situation. What are you—what? Well. OK. You're lashing out, Pooh, and that's normal, part of the healing process. But I would like to make the point that I am not a "candy ass." Nor am I a "fairy boy." Thank you, Piglet, I do think that this shirt emphasizes my pectorals. Protein shakes, yeah. Yep, just dump the whey powder right into the blender.

No, Pooh, I've already told you—there's no honey here. In fact, I did exactly what the pamphlet said to do—I flushed it down the toilet. Really. I did. Yep.

Pooh, what are you—Owl, could you get a handle on him? I read about this in the literature: sometimes the desire for a given substance can cause addicts to commit rash acts that they wouldn't normally—POOH, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THAT TOILET.

POOH, STOP THAT.

POOH.

POOH.

POOH.

Oh, dear.

- - - -

PREVIOUS SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

- - - -

Eco Joe's Pre-WrestleMania-Match Rant Leaves a Lot to Be Desired
By Frank Ferri (4/24/09)

Bono Gives the Rush-Hour Traffic Report
By Alyssa Lang (4/2/09)

This Adult Male Greater Sage Grouse Refuses to Play the Plumage Game, Baby
By Paul Ita (3/3/09)

Subway Sandwich Artist's Statement
By Jonathan Tucker Bell (2/19/09)

Stevie Nicks Applies for Work at an Ice Rink
By Jordi Barnes (1/27/09)

A Mail Carrier Realizes That a Family's Netflix Movie Has Yet to Be Returned
By Frank Ferri (1/6/09)

A Candiru Issues an Apology From Inside Your Urethra
By Isaac Rooks (12/8/08)

The Cervine Patient Begins His Analysis
By Curtis Edmonds (11/19/08)

No Son of Mine Plays Oregon Trail Like That
By Michael Nelson Price (11/6/08)

Beowulf, Sitting Next to a 16-Year-Old Kid, Watches Frasier on a Transcontinental Flight
By Russell Hehn (10/28/08)

A 39-Year-Old Wedding Photographer Makes Her Pitch at the Ramada Inn Bridal Expo
By Christine Nangle (10/21/08)

A Taxi Dispatcher Talks a Passenger Through an Emergency Parking
By Jake Salter (8/5/08)

Jeff Bezos Says Hi to You in the Waiting Room of Your Doctors' Office
By Evan Johnston (8/1/08)

Mom, Dad, I'm Into Steampunk
By Marco Kaye (7/25/08)

It Was I Who Flipped Over the Risk Board Last Night
By Colin Nissan (6/17/08)

A Former WWF Wrestler, Now a Suburban Realtor and Parent of Three, Campaigns for PTA Chair and Battles His Instincts
By Teddy Wayne (6/10/08)

A Pep Talk for the New Pair of Shorts I Will Wear Every Day This Summer
By John Frank (5/13/08)

The Most Complicated Game
By Michael Reisman (3/4/08)

Potsie's Breakdown
By Lindsay Champion (2/26/08)

Heart for Sale, Slightly Torn
By Adrienne Gunn (2/14/08)

I Can't Remain Your Girlfriend Just Because Your Best Friend Is in a Coma
By Nicole Fabian (2/5/08)

Fellow Grocery Shoppers of Checkout Line No. 6
By Sean P. Murray (1/29/08)

An Orca Goes Drinking, Talks About His Career
By Jonathan J. Levin (1/22/08)

Let Me Assure You, Joanie. I Am Freezing
By Grace Parra (12/18/07)

Blake, Alec Baldwin's Character From the Movie Version of Glengarry Glen Ross, Motivates Some Fourth-Graders
By Sonny Harding (12/11/07)

Christopher Robin Stages an Intervention
By Becky Adnot (11/28/07)

An Inarticulate, Self-Consciously Ironic Voice of His Twentysomething Generation Makes an Opening Statement for His Client in a Corporate-Fraud Case
By Teddy Wayne (11/13/07)

My Workplace Eulogy, as Given by My Boss, in Office Jargon
By Eric Feezell (11/6/07)

In the Early '70s, a Chicago Native Approves of the Sears Tower Construction, in Anticipation of It Beating the World Trade Center for Tallest Building in the World
By Michael Stutz (10/23/07)

After Organizing an Emergency Eight-and-Three-Fourths-Year Reunion, a Late Bloomer Shares Some Important News With Her Class
By Aisha Muharrar (10/9/07)

An Obsessive-Compulsive's Prayer Before Death
By Eric Buell (10/2/07)

The CEO of the Olive Garden Makes His Last Stand on the "Free Breadsticks" Issue
By Mike Drucker (9/26/07)

Upon Hearing Fred's Usual Suggestion That the Gang Split Up, Velma Raises a Few Issues
By Jay Dyckman (9/17/07)

Having Just Completed a Three-Week Throw-Intensive Judo Course, I Strongly Advise You Not to Fuck With Me
By Dave De Fina (9/5/07)

Moby-Dick Explains His New Captain Ahab Piercing to His Wife
By Chad Rutan (8/23/07)

Narcissus Places a Personal Ad
By Matteson Perry (8/14/07)

Death-Metal Star Rethinks Romantic Love Onstage
By Jonathan J. Levin (8/8/07)

A Billet-Doux From Your Goldfish
By A.H. Avouris (7/31/07)

I'm So Happy, I Think I'll Flip a Car
By Christine F. Nangle (7/24/07)

Eulogy for a Bearded Bee Guy
By Colin Nissan (7/20/07)

Emergency Broadcast System
By Vince Eckert (7/11/07)

Vladimir Nabokov Didn't Have to Put Up With Payroll
By Shane Ryan (6/26/07)

An Elmwood Forest High School Special Report: Susan Mary Kovolski Thinks She'd Make a Great Prom Date
By Megan Baker (6/20/07)

Bo Jackson Announces His Intention to Rush for Over 500 Yards in a Single Game in Tecmo Bowl for Nintendo
By Rick Stoeckel (6/5/07)

Your Driver Hopes You're Sharing His Epiphany
By Emma Rowley (5/15/07)

Thoughts for Incoming Freshman
By Pat Landers (4/19/07)

William Smith: The College-Application Essay
By Justin Parker Pool I (4/12/07)

A Drunken, Obnoxious, Imaginative, Unnecessary Best-Man Speech for a Friend's Marriage of Convenience at the Municipal Building
By Matthew Collison (3/7/07)

An Excerpt From the Lindale High School Graduation Valedictorian Speech by Samuel Clark, Who Ate the Brains of His Fellow Students to Increase His Intelligence
By Alex Kane (2/28/07)

Tom Skerritt's Speech to the Cadets in Top Gun Is Probably Long Enough as It Is
By Patrick Cassels (2/14/07)

Today's AA Speaker: Mr. Tom Waits (If Mr. Waits Is Actually Like the People He Writes Songs About)
By Russell Bradbury-Carlin (2/5/07)

My Brain's Answers During an Interview After Hearing the News That I Am About to Take Mushrooms for the First Time
By Dan Klein

Matthew McConaughey Explains to His Friend Rich That He Forgot His Dr. Pepper
By Dede Preno

Holden Caulfield Gives the Commencement Speech to a High School
By Andrew Tan

Holiday Basket Case
By Angie Brennan

Professor Richard Dawkins Speaks at Fair Hills Kindergarten Regarding Santa Claus, December 2, 2006
By Mike Jones

An 8-Foot Submarine Sandwich Gives Himself a Pep Talk
By Alex Berg

The Lead Singer Is Distracting Me
By Juan Martinez

And They Say You Can't Get Any Jobs With a Philosophy Degree
By Devin Blake

Slash Prepares to Run to 7-Eleven for Cigarettes at
4 A.M.

By Nick Kirincic

Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, Has Fucking Had It With You, Man
By Glen Weldon

Wario Gives an Account of a Mario Kart Race for Strangers at a Bar
By Charlie Nadler

I'm Beginning to Think No One's Coming to My Cinco de Mayo Party
By Jason Roeder

Bill Cosby's Unused Dialogue as the Voice of King Kong During the Final Confrontation on Top of the Empire State Building in Peter Jackson's King Kong
By Mike Jones

A Push-Reel Mower's Rumination on Mowing the Lawn in the Gas-Powered Age
By Brian Slattery

Final Thoughts of the Big Bald Shirtless German Soldier Who Beat Up Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark
By Ralph Gamelli

Bob Hope Auditions for the Role of Quint in Jaws: April 12, 1974 (The USS Indianapolis Monologue)
By Robert Hornak

An Unwelcome Confession From Someone Whose Hand Is in Your Mouth
By Emma Rowley

Alligators Are the New Sharks, as Rebutted by a Shark
By Eric Edwards

The Garter Snake in 11-Year-Old Kevin Wackerbarth's Terrarium
By Ned Rust

David Caruso Scolds His Cat About Its Lackadaisical Litter-Box Use
By Brian Graham

Britney Spears Responds to Daniel Edwards's Sculpture Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston
By Julie Bear

Timothy Treadwell's Screen Tests for Cheers
By Eugenia Williamson

Ryan Adams Gives a Speech to a Little League Team He Coaches, Before the Championship Game
By Roger Marks

The Thoughts of Burt Reynolds Upon Stumbling on a Rerun of Win, Lose, or Draw on the Game Show Network on August 9, 2005
By Ben Hogan

Dr. Robotnik's Proposal to His Board of Shareholders
By Mark Alletag

Christopher Walken Attempts to Convince a Harlem T-Shirt Vendor That Scarface Can Be a Religion
By Libby Leonard

Trent, From Swingers, Performs an Exorcism
By Adam J. Silver

Alfred Hitchcock Complains About His Hotel Room
By Andrew Meek

"The Macho Man" Randy Savage Goes to the Doctor
By Rick Stoeckel

Morgan Freeman Buys a Pop-A-Shot Machine
By Greg Ruehlmann

Thak, the Most Organized Member of the Party of Roughly 70 People Who Originally Settled North America
By Richard D. Allen

George Jefferson's Thoughts on Mind and Style
By Ben Greenman

Bit Bit, Speak!: A Monologue From the Canine Companion of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline
By Kathy Cacace

Microsoft Office Assistant: The Paper Clip
By Justin Kahn

What It Is to Love and Lose: Groucho Marx
By Ben Greenman

2008 Presidential Stump Speech of Billy Bush, Cousin of George W. Bush and Access Hollywood Entertainment Reporter
By Teddy Wayne

Meatloaf: On Commitment, to Varsity Cheerleaders
By Kevin O Cuinn

Beware, the Shark!
By Jamie Allen (7/8/04)

An Aging Kelis, Years from Now, Reflects on a Milkshake Long Expired, but How the Boys, Ah, the Boys Remain
By Jeremy Richards (6/29/04)

Local Radio Station's "'80s Hour" Wants a Second Chance
By Lindsay Hunter

Gregor Samsa, Coach
By Will Layman

Montecore and Roy
By Steve Martin

 

 

- - - -

MAIN PAGE | ARCHIVES



Memories of Amanda Davis




Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

BOOKSTORES WITH A McSWEENEY'S DISPLAY

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S PREDICTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

TEDDY WAYNE'S UNPOPULAR PROVERBS

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM MOSCOW

AND HERE'S THE KICKER:
MIKE SACKS'S CONVERSATIONS WITH HUMOR WRITERS


SARAH WALKER SHOWS YOU HOW

DISPATCHES FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER
WHO IS TRYING TO GROW A MUSTACHE


DISPATCHES FROM A HANGDOG BANKRUPT

DISPATCHES FROM THE ANACOSTIA

DISPATCHES FROM THE CAPITAL

DISPATCHES FROM INDIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

BEN GREENMAN'S FAKE CELEBRITY MUSICALS

SEAN MICHAELS LISTENS TO MUSIC IN MONTREAL

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

KIDS' LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

DISPATCHES FROM THE WINGS AT THE BALLET

YOUR MONEY, YOUR JOB ... YOUR LIFE, WITH ALISON ROSEN

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

LAWRENCE WESCHLER'S EVERYTHING THAT RISES: A BOOK OF CONVERGENCES

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

ABOUT THE CONVALESCENT

ABOUT GOD SAYS NO

ABOUT UNDERGROUND AMERICA

ABOUT THANKS AND HAVE FUN RUNNING THE COUNTRY

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY

DISPATCHES FROM ADJUNCT FACULTY AT A LARGE STATE UNIVERSITY

E-MAILS SENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FLAG-FOOTBALL TEAM


ADVICE FROM A PERSON WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY

JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

FLIP: A COLUMN ABOUT SKATEBOARDING

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER

STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL