counter)induction

“The Animals’ Race” is a title of my own invention for a short story without title by the Soviet absurdist writer Daniel Harms. Harms’ prose writing is rarely without irony, and reading between the lines yields cutting satire and tragedy about the reality of Soviet existence under Joseph Stalin. This story may lack a darker subtext, but my setting attempts to juxtapose Harms’ more usual tone with this story’s humorous and absurdist elements. Harms was arrested and executed in 1942.” – Daniel Beliavsky