I was intrigued by the themes of the story but the premise and outcome felt a bit cliche to me as well. I’ve never thought about the woman-as-weak-link theme before but you make a good point. And the character’s slip into “self” punishment felt contrived to me.

(Uh . . . should I have said spoilers somewhere along the way in that?)

One of the things I liked most about it was seeing King in Esquire. It seems like over the past few years he’s gained some acceptance in places like The New Yorker and Esquire . . . which makes me happy. Too often a genre writer is easily dismissed by academic/literary/highbrow mainstream.

That being said, I’m not sure how I feel about King’s story. I really love some of King’s writing. He has written some of my favorite stories. I can’t help but feel this one was a little slap dash. I do think there are some very interesting ideas brought up in the story. I think maybe the ending could have been expressed with a bit more length. Or maybe that really wasn’t the point. I really like where it started. One thing I am personally tired of is women being the weak link and breaking down in some way after a crime is committed. I found the female’s arc a bit cliche. But it still raised some interesting questions in my mind. I’m on the fence.

I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the King story. I had mixed feelings about it. But I was glad it didn’t overlap with “The Red Boy” as much as the photo suggested.

Now, I read “The Red Boy” last year or the year before at some point after listening to A&D and Matters and looking for some more material of yours. When I opened up this post to read I quickly scanned the page and saw the photo, thinking it was a photo of yours for Red Boy and wondering if it was being produced somewhere. Anyway, color me creeped out. I am going to have to read King’s story now.

Lots to read and listen to. Thanks!