The Toxic Cocktail
Abstract
The Toxic Cocktail is a collection of short stories thematically linked around different ideas of the human body, the vessel through which we experience the world, for better or worse. The settings range from pre-WWII Washington D.C. to the present-day People's Republic of Boulder, Colorado, and while none of the characters recur in multiple stories, they all seek the means to cope with the gaping disconnect between what they can touch and what they can feel, who they are to the world at large and who they are in private. The stories are layered with elements of the absurd and the fantastic: A talking gorilla, stuck in middle management malaise, joins an online dating site; a man only communicates with his wife through an official spokesman; students in a Wisconsin middle school undergo a bizarre medical procedure in the hope of sidestepping the pitfalls of adolescence. However, the characters grapple with the very human problems of guilt, loyalty, lust, and the quest for perfection.
Degree
M.F.A.
Advisors
Henley, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Modern literature|Fine arts|American literature|Creative writing
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