Summary

The narrator in “Gideon” by ZZ Packer, an African-American woman, begins a relationship with Gideon, a Jewish man she meets at the Syrian restaurant where she works. Gideon is attracted to African-American women, but the narrator is his first black girlfriend. Gideon is doing a PhD in poetry but is constantly dissatisfied with his thesis.

Furthermore, he is often very political; most of his conversations end up being about political topics. Gideon also has a passion for crickets; he enjoys hearing them at night and even goes outside to catch them and put them in a jar. The narrator finds making love to him both strange and beautiful because of their different skin colors.

One night the condom breaks and both the narrator and Gideon panic. Gideon p...