"Nativity, Caucasian"

I'd never before been exposed to Allan Gurganus. So to read his work was a real treat for me. At first glance I thought I wouldn't enjoy this too much, but something about the story captivated me. I think it had a lot to do with his language, and his technical prowess. Here's a comic story but written very elegantly and lyrically. There was a passage on page two that begins "One yard above the Persian..." that just blew me away. That whole paragraph had such a wonderful flow to it. Also on the very last page where the two women went back to the kitchen to clean up the mess, the way he phrased that was very beautiful. I definitely had a good time reading this piece, and would like to read some more of his work.