Date of Award

5-2020

Document Type

Campus Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English/Creative Writing

First Advisor

Askold Melnyczuk

Second Advisor

Jane Unrue

Third Advisor

Sari Edelstein

Abstract

This collection contains eight stories that explore loss, the end of the world and desire – both erotic desire and the desire to transcend grief. In “This Is What You Wanted?,” the first of three loosely linked stories set in the 1980s, a young woman reluctantly attends a rock concert and experiences a variety of betrayals. In “Detonation,” set in contemporary times, a lonely young man is criminally haunted by an elderly, ex-guitarist neighbor. In the title story, “All This Is Temporary,” a married, middle-aged businessman reuniting for a one-night-stand with a college hookup meditates on the morality of his decisions. Sometimes alone, sometimes together, these battered characters make use of sex, money, music, and even the opportunity to care for an injured dog, as mechanisms by which to persist against despair.

Comments

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