Ask The Puma Research Guides: What I Have Been Doing Lately

What I Have Been Doing Lately

First published in the Paris Review in 1981, “What I Have Been Doing Lately” was later included in Jamaica Kincaid’s first book of short stories At the Bottom of the River which came out in 1983.  In an elliptical narrative that begins with ‘What I have been doing lately’ the unnamed woman narrator recounts her adventures, fantasies, and daydreams.  The themes of departure and loss, reality versus fantasy, and the relationship and longing that the narrator feels for her mother, form the core elements of this story.

Call Numbers for Browsing the Shelves

•  PR9275 .A583
•  PR9205 – PR9215
• PS648 .S5
• PS374 .S5 C57 2001

Circulating Books – A Selected List

• Bloom, Harold (ed.). Jamaica Kincaid. 1998.

                         Call Number: PR9275 .A583 K565 1998

• Paravisini-Gebert, Lizabeth. Jamaica Kincaid: A Critical Companion. 1999.

                          Call Number: PR9275 .A583 K566 1999

LINCCWeb online catalog – Search Terms

• Kincaid, Jamaica
• Kincaid, Jamaica – Criticism and Interpretation
• Women and Literature – Antigua – History – 20^th Century

Reference Materials

• Black Literature Criticism – Call Number: REF PS153 .N5 B556 1992

o   Vol. 2, pg. 1172

• Contemporary Literary Criticism – Call Number: REF PN771 .C59

o   Vol. 43, pg. 248

o   Vol. 137, pg. 143

• Critical Survey of Short Fiction – Call Number: REF PN3321 .C7 2001

o   Vol. 4, pg. 1365

• Short Stories for Students – Call Number: REF PN3330 .S386

o   Vol. 5, pg. 335-349

Research Databases

To access Valencia’s research databases, open your Atlas account, select ‘Search the Library’, then select ‘Databases A-Z’.

•  Literature Resources from Gale

This Research Guide is designed to help users find information on a particular topic within the Valencia College East Campus Library.  This is by no means a comprehensive list of resources and other resources may be available on this topic.  Please check LINCCWeb, Valencia East’s online catalog, to verify the availability of circulating books within the library.  Feel free to ask a librarian for help if you need further assistance.

Valencia College East Campus Library

Last Revised on November 21, 2021