The Lone Palm

Authors

Joe Clifford, Florida International University

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

Bruce Harvey

Third Advisor's Name

Les Standiford

Date of Defense

2-26-2008

Abstract

THE LONE PALM is a noir novel set in a timeless Bay Area city. At nineteen, Colin Spector is a hot-shot crooner at the Lone Palm, a nightclub owned by the Christos' crime family, headed by Cephalus "the Old Man" Christos and his ne'er-do-well son, Gabriel. When Colin falls for Gabriel's girl, a stripper named Zoe, Gabriel orders the singer's vocal cords cut and has him framed for a crime he didn't commit. After seven years in prison, Colin is manipulated into working for his former tormenter. Gabriel is now estranged from his father, who has branched into the world of politics. Working as mob muscle, Colin investigates the Old Man and delves into the whereabouts of his former love. The book draws on the tradition of noir novels like Jim Thompson's After Dark My Sweet and Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye, with their seedy city streets and shady characters. The novel is divided into three parts, the first and third told in omniscient third person to depict the layered world of the novel, while the longest, central section is told in Colin's first person voice to elucidate the internal struggles and actions he takes on his road to redemption.

Identifier

FI14060858

Recommended Citation

Clifford, Joe, "The Lone Palm" (2008). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2389.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2389