Dybek's Bottle Caps

I really admired Bottle Caps among this week's readings. I loved how Dybek used the senses, specifically smell, sight, and touch when describing the thrill the protagonist got from collecting bottle caps in an alley. In terms of smell, I loved the "metallic, fermenting malt" part, which for me evoked that rusty smell in my own nose. I also loved the brand-naming, like Pabst Blue Ribbon, as well as the way Dybek has his protagonist describe the touch and feel of the caps, "some were lined with plastic, some were lined with foil... Meister Brau Bock, my favorite, each cap a ram's head medallion."
I also love the pace and how the tone shifts in this piece. The mundane hobby of collecting bottle caps turns into an obsession by the end, particularly through Dybek's word choice. His tone goes from relaxed and almost tranquil, and gradually shifts to anger and frustration, as the main character has almost too many caps to save. For example, I love the image of the main character choking his brother at the end; "I had him by the T-shirt, which I worked up around his throat, slowly twisting into a knot at his windpipe." I love this rather violent turn; it really spiced the piece up and also added complexity to the character and his relationship to his bottle caps. Dybek's diction even makes one ask if by the end of the piece the protagonist continued to get joy from his bottle caps, or whether or not he empathized with his brother using them for his dead bugs. I even think the subject of an "insect graveyard" adds complexity, not to the protagonist, but to the two brothers as a whole. I think in this piece, Dybek shows how rich just one page of single-spaced narrative can achieve, and that we should strive for this sort of brevity.