The Writer As Explorer

“Autumn at The Automat” by Lawrence Block reminds me of the calm before the storm. There is a sense of serenity and calmness while reading the piece even though it is about a woman’s devious ways of getting money. Block draws the reader in with descriptions of what is surrounding the character and what is going on around her. The reader is able to tell that there is intention behind this other than just contributing to the story. Block’s use of characters are also very interesting. In the story Alfred has died, but he still is an integral part of the story. He speaks internally and is shown through flashbacks that the main character has, which I thought was beautiful and showed true artistry on Blocks part. Something that I noticed as well was the lack of mentioning the time period of when the story takes place. There is an importance for that, but with the details given we can assume that this takes place at a later time, when money held more value, which makes me think what the story was trying to get across. Does money hold more value or are we placing too much value on money and material things?