Rita Dove’s “Wingfoot Lake” (1986)

Rita Dove’s “Wingfoot Lake” (1986)

Dove’s collection of poems Thomas and Beulah is a history of her mother Beulah and her father Thomas’ life together from their courtship to his death. “Wingfoot Lake,” subtitled “Independence Day,” signifies the Fourth of July. More...
Paul Theroux’s O-Zone (1986)

Paul Theroux’s O-Zone (1986)

Theroux’s O-Zone New Year’s Eve ranks among the most disagreeable and uncomfortable picnics. Eight picnickers have gathered in the O-Zone or Outer Zone, once Arkansas and Missouri, now in 2036, a vast ecological disaster area. Encased in self-contained...
William B. Montgomery’s Industrial Picnic (1986)

William Montgomery’s Industrial Picnic (1986)

Industrial Picnic is William Montgomery’s satirical vision of how we are desensitized by pollution and learn to do with what we have. Wonderful satire. Featured Image: William B. Montgomery. Industrial Picnic. Hand-colored etching.
H.E. Bates’s A Month by the Lake (1987)

H.E. Bates’s A Month by the Lake (1987)

Though billed as a comedy of errors, for all that happens in Bates’s “A Month by the Lake,” the lake might as well be Lake Coma. There is, however, a Bates a lovely picnic in the summer of 1937, enhancing the slow-paced relationship of the...
Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987)

Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987)

The Princess Bride is Rob Reiner’s adaptation of William Goldman’s novel, for which Goldman wrote the screenplay. The story is known for its humor and gentle satire of romantic love and swashbuckling mischief. Vizzini’s picnic at which he duels with...
Eric Hill’s Spot’s First Picnic (1987)

Eric Hill’s Spot’s First Picnic (1987)

Hill’s Spot’s First Picnic begins when Spot helps Mom prepare the bread and jam and cheese sandwiches. There is a bone for Spot and a canteen with some beverage, perhaps milk. Friends each bring their share of food, and off they go. Besides Spot, the...
Blake Edwards’s Blind Date (1987)

Blake Edwards’s Blind Date (1987)

Edwards’s comedy is sometimes madcap, but when matters settle, there is a happy ending with a picnic on the beach. What else is new? See Blake Edwards’s Blind Date (1987). The screenplay is by Dale Launer. Featured Image: Bruce Willis as Walter Davis; Kim Bassinger as...
Faith Ringgold’s Church Picnic (1988)

Faith Ringgold’s Church Picnic (1988)

Ringgold’s Church Picnic Story Quilt (1988)  is a painted quilt that portrays the Freedom Baptist Church Sunday School picnic. Picnic cloths are spread out on the grass, and families sit in separate groups eating the foods they have totted along. The children playing...