How to Talk to a "Predator"

Pam Houston's short story, "How to Talk to a Hunter" leads readers to believe that all men are some sort of sexual predators. The absence of the hunter's name hints at Houston's belief that men naturally try to dominate women. Although I don't agree with her, I enjoyed her story and her analysis of the bad boy complex. Houston makes the arguement the women are instictively attracted to "bad" men. Her story focuses on a doomed relationship, where the hunter is "bad" in more than one way. Not only does he preys on her but also with Janie Coyote. The main women obviously knows that the hunter is fooling around with this other women, who in the girlfriend's eyes is a better fit for the hunter. Although the setting is in Alaska, to play on the hunter metaphor, this story can essential occur anywhere in the mordern world. I believe this is Pam Houston's critique of the mordern world, that the relationship of today are more corrupt, flawed and no longer based on sentimental love.