Plot Summary

Ann Beattie's short story, "Janus" begins by describing a bowl that the main character, Andrea uses when she sells homes. She is a real estate agent who is clearly obsessed with this bowl and she brings it to every show home and she thinks it's the main reason why she sells so many homes. As the story progresses, she becomes more obsessed with the bowl, and the readers find out that there are some clear issues between her and her husband. Their marriage seems long and dull and Andrea is obviously bored with their relationship. Beattie describes Andrea's anxiety about the bowl and explains a story about her forgetting it at one show home, and then reveals the information that Andrea had an affair with a "half-secret lover." The lover bought her the bowl and several other material objects, similar to her husband, but she ultimately chose her husband and the lover stopped talking to her. The story ends with time passing and Andrea spending nights alone in the living room staring at the bowl.