"The Yellow Sweater"

Cafe Society
1

I’m trying to find the author of a short story called “The Yellow Sweater”. It’s NOT by Hugh Garner which appears to be a bout a hitchhiker.

This is a story about a boy who goes to visit a college with his family. He’s wearing a yellow sweater. Throughout the story, despite the fact that no one says anything to him about it, he realizes that he’s committed a horrible fashion solecism. By the end of the story, his family is huddled around him to protect him.

I was forced to read this story in the 60’s. I hated it, but it was well written. I want to read it again, to see how the author’s handled the story to make it so memorable.

2

Is it The Yellow Turtleneck Sweater by Milton White. That story is in Stanford Short Stories 1950.

3

Thanks for locating it! I have no idea how you found it. I’m a pretty good researcher, but I 'd never been able to identify it. I think I was misled by the impression that it was by a more famous author of the era, so I went down a couple of wrong paths that ended in dead ends.

4

I went to Google Books and entered The Yellow Sweater short story. It is part of a book called A Yale Man. It looks like you can read the short story at Google Books.

5

Amazing to find your post. For years this story has hung around my mind. When I read it, in school 1972, I did not like it. But it’s a profound story full of emotion, embarrassment, and family.