Learning from Other Writers: The Game Ain’t Over Til the Fatso Man Sings

Instructor's Notes

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The Game Ain’t Over ’til the Fatso Man Sings

Howie Chackowicz

Radio Story

In this audio piece, recorded for Chicago Public Media’s popular radio program This American Life, Howie Chackowicz recalls the irrational and amusing methods he unsuccessfully employed as a child to win girls’ hearts. Listen to Chackowicz’s story, and then respond to the questions that follow.

View transcript.

“The Game Ain’t Over ’til the Fatso Man Sings,” by Howard Chackowicz from WBEZ Chicago’s This American Life, episode #188: Kid Logic.

Source: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/188/kid-logic?act52#play

Questions to Start You Thinking

Meaning

  1. Describe two of the strategies Chackowicz used to attract girls’ attention. Why, as a child, did he think each of these strategies would be successful?
  2. What is the one story of Chackowicz’s that Karen remembers?
  3. By seventh grade, how had Chackowicz’s tactics changed? Were these new tactics more successful in winning the attention of his crushes?

    Writing Strategies

  4. Before Chackowicz speaks with and about Karen specifically, he recounts his crush-getting theories and recalls a few specific moments from his childhood that did not involve Karen. Why do you think Chackowicz begins his narrative like this, as opposed to jumping right into his memories with Karen? How does this introduction color the way you experience his later conversation with Karen?
  5. Chackowicz casts his recollections as a child against the backdrop of his grown self, never allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in his memories as he interprets them from an adult perspective. Why do you think he does this? If Chackowicz had simply described his childhood memories without adding commentary, would the piece have achieved the same results?
  6. Chackowicz recalls many events from childhood that Karen does not remember. Did the inclusion of Karen’s perspective in this story ever make you question the accuracy of Chackowicz’s memory? Do you think Chackowicz would have reached the same conclusion had he not learned how much Karen’s memories differed from his own? Why or why not?
  7. Chackowicz brings Karen’s perspective into the piece, but we do not get to hear from his seventh grade girlfriend, Elizabeth. Do you think we need Elizabeth’s perspective in the same way we need Karen’s perspective? What argument about his childhood memories, as opposed to his teenage memories, might Chackowicz be making in choosing to speak with Karen but not with Elizabeth?