Applicants should have: An unreliable narrator, near-rambling (but clever) asides and tangents, and no pressure to drive much “action”. Bonus points awarded for short story format and/or and a conversation with the reader.
For those familiar, think slightly more Glass family than Caulfield.
Best modern read: Piranesi (such an unreliable narrator, it’s great)
I’ve seen variations of this question a few other times on here, but they always care about subject matter so Hemingway gets recommended, which proves that folks didn’t understand the ask.
by FistSizedRiverRock