Summary

The second short story entitled The Valetudinarian follows Arty Groys, a sixty six year old man with multiple health problems. On retirement, he moved to Florida with his wife, leaving his adult children in Ohio. The second day after the move, his wife was killed, leaving him alone in a new city. Since this time his children noted that he had stalled and had stopped doing anything with his life. Without his wife’s presence to “shake him out of the recliner and into the world” (Location 296), his brooding resulted in the loss of friends and golfing companions. On his birthday, he received a couple of calls from his children. During his conversations with them, his only topic of discussion was the dire state of his health.

When the doorbell rang, Arty believed it to be the pizza he had ordered earlier. Instead...