So I ended up liking the story pretty well, and I hope to do a write-up on it here soon.
Last night I got a call from a recruiter for a possible job opening scanning documents for a local school system. From the job description it sounded like a good fit for my capabilities, and the pay is decent.
And I went to the dentist for a cleaning / check-up, my first in over a year and my first ever with the dental office in my new neigborhood. It went as well as sitting in a dentist's chair for an hour and a half can be expected to go. So my teeth are clean and I'm on for my next appointment in six months.
I'm taking it easy for the night. Another book on my reading list, decidedly more contemporary than Agnon, is Red: A History of the Redhead.