A Brief Survey (novella)

A Brief Survey is a novella by R. Basil Coldrack, first published in 1985 by O.C.E.A.N. The novella is set in 1955 and follows two surveyors as they travel through small towns, administering five brief survey questions to residents.

Literary scholar Miriam Folsom remarked, “Coldrack’s novella operates in the interstices of what is spoken and what is deliberately withheld, creating a narrative tension that demands the reader’s active complicity in constructing its meaning.” The novella has been noted for its dense narrative, which, despite its brevity, reveals a deeper system of defiance and control woven into its structure.