The remarkable Richard Bausch has reminded us that literature can indeed save us.

“For me the greatest hedge against evil has always been the power to imagine the other. To enter the reality of the other. And literature, is, isn’t it, an exploration and confrontation of exactly that.”

Bausch is a prolific American original. I could write a string of superlatives to describe his body of work, but please, do yourself a favor and explore it. He’s a master of the short story and a Chapman University professor. He says, “I create characters and put them in trouble and see how they behave. They don’t interest me unless they’re in trouble.”

Read his entire essay here.

And to further elucidate and delight you, might I suggest you also read “In That Time” another of his gems. It’s a Pushcart Prize selection and you’ll find it in Narrative Magainze.