Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Major/Program
Creative Writing
First Advisor's Name
Lynne Barrett
First Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Chair
Second Advisor's Name
Debra Dean
Second Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Member
Third Advisor's Name
Meri-Jane Rochelson
Third Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Member
Keywords
Short stories, fiction, gritty realism, American Southwest
Date of Defense
11-3-2014
Abstract
OUT OF VIEW is a collection of stories set in the American Southwest about people coping with loss—the death of parents, children, ideals, innocence.
The characters in this collection reap or resist lessons of life as they struggle to find their place in the world. In “First Rain,” 15-year-old Tessie struggles with the loss of her father and the demands of her mother as she navigates the rocky terrain of adolescence. In “Monsters,” middle-aged Maury has to choose between a new relationship and protecting the well-being of his 4-year-old ‘daughter.’ The stories are influenced by the Western realism of Maile Meloy and the playful plotting of Ron Carlson.
These stories are inspired both by the Sonoran Desert—expansive, sun-soaked, unrepentant—and by the people who live, love, and lose in the interstices between Manifest Destiny and the Reconquista.
Identifier
FI14110742
Recommended Citation
Bendell, Justin, "Out of View: Stories" (2014). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1638.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1638
Rights Statement
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).