"August"

A cold-read and a response.

Normally the stories I offer here are ones that I love and that long ago entered my creative bloodstream and are constantly informing what I do in my own work. 

So, when I go to write about them, I’m doing so in a spirit of celebration and advocacy; my goal is to try to convey what I find good about them. 

This is, of course, a little circular.  I love the story and analyze it in “my” way and – voila! – it is, it turns out, a perfect demonstration of my esthetic ethos.

This week, I was intrigued by the idea of trying something different: reading a story I have never read before, by a writer I’ve often heard about and been urged to read but never had.

And, as I write this, I still haven’t. 

I will step away now, to do my first read of “August,” by Bruno Schulz.