Lundberg, Jason Erik ; John J. Kessel, Committee Chair,Wilton Barnhardt, Committee Member,Jon Thompson, Committee Member,Lundberg, Jason Erik ; John J. Kessel ; Committee Chair ; Wilton Barnhardt ; Committee Member ; Jon Thompson ; Committee Member
This collection of stories covers a wide variety of characters and settings, which alternate (for the most part) between third- and first-person viewpoints, with the final piece, "In Jurong," told in second person. Most of the tales take place in the mundane world of the present day, but a world that allows the magical or surreal to seep through. This blending of the realistic world with the fantastic one is of great importance to me as a writer and as a reader, as is the discussion of its merits within the broader field of literature.These twenty-three stories explore the perils and pleasures of sex (mostly the perils), the issues of the day but twisted into satire or literalized metaphor, the slightly magical, the truly bizarre, and the constant questioning of identity and the afterlife.