Ted Fenton

Date of Graduation

Fall 2013

Degree

Master of Arts in English

Department

English

Committee Chair

Wayne Blackmon

Abstract

This is a fictional account of a family's mental illness which reflects the larger problem of society as a whole. Employing a modernist/postmodernist approach, the author hopes to illuminate the problem, break down stereotypes and call attention to the stigmas and taboos surrounding mental illness. Eddie Kramer is an alcoholic. Distraught over the death of his sister, Beth Ann, who struggled with mental illness, Eddie stumbles through his tumultuous life in a small desert town on the edge of Southern California. It is 1988, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing the Oakland A's in the World Series, which Eddie follows closely, along with a friendly bunch of oddball Dodger fans at the local bar. Because of dysfunctional parents, Eddie is raised mainly by his mentally ill sister, who, one year after her death, Eddie believes is communicating with him via a series of unusually bright meteorites streaking across the desert sky.

Keywords

alcoholism, mental illness, dysfunctional family, baseball, death

Subject Categories

English Language and Literature

Copyright

© Ted Fenton

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